Branching Paths
by SkywardStrike
Summary: Fate is a funny thing. Switch up only a couple pieces and the results can be worldchanging. The Kamado siblings' separation was just such an event, one that led Nezuko to a darker path and turned Tanjiro into a legend reborn. The ripples of their actions, for better or worse, will change the course of history itself.
1. Fateful Day

"_How did this happen…?"_

That was all Tanjiro Kamado could think as he carried the bloodied body of his sister in his back, dragging his feet through the heavy snow as he struggled to make his way through the wintery forest. How? How had things fallen apart so quickly? He was just gone for a single day, off to sell coal at the nearest village so to provide for his family for the New Years, and he'd returned to find himself face to face with most of his family violently butchered. The only one still alive had been Nezuko, the eldest sister of the Kamado family and Tanjiro's own younger sister, but even then her pulse was a faint one.

As he desperately tried to move his fastest, ignoring any tire from the trip to the village, dark thoughts would begin swarming Tanjirou's mind. He was the oldest son in his family, and with father gone it was his duty to protect them…and yet…he failed. He grit his teeth, the warm tears running down his face feeling numb against his cold skin. He should've been there for them, even if it didn't change the outcome. At least he wouldn't have failed as an older brother…

Tanjiro shook his head as to try and get the negative thoughts off his mind. "_You can't think like that! Not now!_" He told himself, "_Hanako, Takeo, Shigeru, Rokuta…mom…I'm sorry I wasn't there. But…_" He glanced over at his back as Nezuko groaned slightly, moving her head and mumbling something indiscernible in her unconsciousness, "_At the very least I'll save you, Nezuko…so please, hang on!_"

The surviving Kamado brother continued to struggle his way through the snow, whispering to his sister in a mantra, "Don't die…please don't die…please hang on…your older brother will save you, so please….Nezuko…" He didn't even have any time to think of what exactly could have caused this whole mess, right now both body and mind were focusing on going forward and saving his sister, trying his best to ignore the numbness of his limbs or the burning cold in his lungs. Nothing else mattered anymore. She was all he had left.

He was so focused in fact he didn't even notice when Nezuko's head suddenly began arching upwards before she suddenly let out a gut-wrenching scream and lurched her body to the side. Tanjiro didn't realize this until the last moment as his fragile balance was suddenly thrown off, slipping in the snow and letting go off Nezuko as both of them fell several feet. For a second, Tanjiro thought that this was it. He'd hit the ground and break his body. Even if the fall didn't kill him, the cold eventually would. A pathetic way to die, but maybe a fitting one for a failure like him…

Except death never came. Rather, he hit the ground hard, but had his fall softened by a thick layer of snow covering the ground. Its cold and wet embrace left Tanjiro staring up into the treetops above and the white sky above it. He barely let himself rest though as he realized Nezuko might not have had the same luck as him, especially with her being injured. He got up with a start, immediately calling out to his sister, but was met with an unexpected sight.

A couple feet from Tanjiro, Nezuko now stood tall on her feet with her head hanging low, her bare feet invisible beneath the sunken snow and her bloody kimono fluttering slightly with the wind. Had he stopped for a second to avail the situation, he might have even noticed that something about her was not quite right.

"Nezuko! Are you all right?" The boy called out worriedly as he rose to his feet, quickly moving towards his sister to check on her, "You're hurt, you shouldn't be up! Let me carry you to to-"

Tanjiro never got to finish his statement as Nezuko suddenly looked up at him and he felt his blood run cold. While he'd expected to see her gentle looks and kind expression, instead he was met with the gaze of a beast. Her eyes were filled with anger, pupils slitted like that of a predator, and her teeth sharp and pointed. Before he could even say anything, she'd lunged at him, mouth opening as to try and take a bite out of his neck.

Despite not fully understanding what was happening, Tanjiro still reacted, and even as he fell on his back, he managed to draw his hatchet and raise it horizontally, managing to have it so her teeth sunk into its wooden shaft rather than ripping out a chunk of his flesh. Even with Nezuko on top of him, Tanjiro would normally have no problem handling his sister, even tired as he was, but she was clearly showcasing way more strength than she should have in this animalistic state of hers.

"_Is that….a demon…?_" He wondered, remembering the old stories he'd been told, ones about the cruel man-eating creatures that lurked in the dark, held back only by the fierce Demon Slayers who stood between them and devouring all of humanity. Tanjiro had always thought this was just the kind of tale you'd tell children so they wouldn't go out at night or wander too far from home, but…Nezuko…"_No…that can't be. Nezuko's a human. She's always been. And yet…"_

Since young, Tanjiro's nose had always been oddly sensitive, able to pick up smells most people couldn't even imagine existed. Though he'd felt it from the moment he'd picked Nezuko up, it now took on a very different context. The smell of blood. The smell of death.

But it still didn't quite add up. It couldn't have been her. There was no blood in her hands, only on her clothes, and he'd found her slumped over Rokuta as if trying to protect her. Not to mention the unknown smell he'd felt lurking about in their home. No…demon or not, whoever had murdered their family couldn't have been his sister.

Tanjiro wasn't given much more time to think about it though, as he suddenly felt Nezuko's push growing fiercer, and though it might have just been his impression, he could feel her getting…bigger? Her strength was growing by the moment, and Tanjiro quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to keep her at bay for much longer. He could now hear a growling sound coming from her throat, her teeth sinking into his hatchet's shaft and beginning to break apart the wood in it.

With no other options at this point, he decided that his best bet would be to reach out to his sister. Were there anything of her old self still there, Tanjiro knew that she'd stop herself from hurting him. "Nezuko!" He called out, "You gotta stop this! You can fight back against it! I know you can!" Despite his pleading though, all Tanjiro got from his efforts was a slight narrowing of her eyes as if she was trying to make sense of what he was saying, though her struggle against him didn't decrease in the slightest. He pursed his lips, his arms beginning to tremble as he felt little strength left in him to hold her back, and he pleaded with her one last time, "Please….you're my little sister…you're all I have left…"

This seemed to reach something within Nezuko though, and she suddenly stopped pushing down on him, her eyes widening and her struggle ceasing before realization finally seemed to hit her and tears began to flow from her eyes. Tanjiro couldn't help but to let out a smile then, realizing that his sister was indeed still there. Maybe it wasn't all lost…he'd find a way to fix this. He'd find the one who slaughtered his family, who turned Nezuko into a demon, and he'd make it all right. "…Nezuko, I-"

He never finished his line of thought as an unfamiliar smell hit him, a shadow suddenly being cast over him and Nezuko. He tried to say something, to react. He probably could've, but his senses failed him at the worst time. He was one second too slow to react as a blade suddenly cut through the air before hitting its target, and in less than a moment he felt himself suddenly splashed in the face with a warm liquid, and even though he closed his eyes, he didn't need them to guess what had just happened as the sickly smell of blood invaded his nostrils once again.

* * *

Giyu Tomioka landed from his sudden dash at the demon, his sandals crunching with the snow underneath them as he almost absentmindedly swung his katana at empty air to clean its shining blue blade off the demon blood staining it before sheathing it back into his scabbard. Only then did he glance from over his shoulder to the boy whom he'd saved, who had gone from being pressured underneath the demon to now holding its body in his arms, looking at it with a gaze of fear and disbelief.

It was a gaze Giyu had seen for what seemed like thousands of times. That of someone seeing their loved ones be killed. How could he not? It was a gaze he'd even seen in the mirror more than once. The demon was once someone important to the boy. He probably did not fully understand nor process what the girl had become. Still, it wasn't easy watching the realization come to him as he held the headless body of someone he cared about.

"…wha…what...?" He looked at Giyu almost catatonically, "Why…Nezuko…?"

Giyu turned fully to face the boy, looking at him with the slightest hint of empathy hidden in his eyes, "She was someone you cared about, wasn't she?" He asked him, "Judging from your age…a sister, perhaps?"

"You…you killed her…" The boy quietly said, his eyes finally tearing up in his grief.

"I know it may hard for you to understand this, but she wasn't the person you knew anymore." He explained, "She'd become a man-eating demon. What you saw was only a feral beast in what remained of her body. I'm sorry you had to see that, but listen to me me when I say it was for the best."

"…no…" The boy insisted, looking back from Giyu to Nezuko's corpse, "She…she recognized me. I'm sure of it."

"It was tricking you. Trying to make you lower your guard so it could go for your throat." Giyu told him, being more than familiar with how demons acted given how many he'd hunted down, "Recently turned demons will do anything to get to human flesh since they expended so much energy in the transformation process. Most times they'll aim for the jugular for an easy kill and lots of blood. While they are normally far more mindless in this state, its not impossible for this one to have retained some of its rationale and tried to pull one over on you."

"…you're wrong." Tanjiro then said while looking up at Giyu, and he'd realize that despite the tears still flowing from the boy's eyes, the sadness and disbelief in his expression had by then been replaced by a quiet yet seething disdain directed towards him. The Demon Slayer felt surprised at this kid's intensity, having initially assumed little from him, but with this change of emotions, Giyu could now see in him the same anger to drive many Slayers he'd met in the past. "I saw it. She knew who I am…Nezuko…she never hurt anyone…I could've helped her, saved her…but you took that away from me. She was all I had left…" The checkered clad boy would lay down his sister's corpse carefully in the snow, looking down as a shadow fell over his face before slowly reaching out to the side and to the axe he'd dropped earlier. "…you took her…"

"…" Giyu closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath, his hand reaching not for his katana's hilt, but rather its scabbard, pulling at the knot in his sheath to untie it from his waist, "The fighting here is done, boy…let go of that axe."

There was a tense moment of silence, not a single word being uttered by either of the two, with only the sounds of the forest around them painting the scenario. Just as it started however, it was broken suddenly as Tanjiro's grip tightened around the axe's shaft and he suddenly moved at Giyu. The Demon Slayer's eyes narrowed as his opponent swung the axe at him, time seeming to slow down as he took a note of the boy's expression seeing the rage, the despair, the complete lack of fear…

"_…how sad._" Giyu thought as he suddenly swung the katana, scabbard and all, to intercept and easily knock the axe off the boy's grip much to his surprise, "_This boy…_" he spun around his sheathed blade and brought slammed his hilt with extraordinary strength on his target's temple, "_…he truly has nothing left to lose…_"

He collapsed, hitting the cold snow hard leaving Giyu to return the sheathed katana to his waist as he sighed briefly. This whole situation had brought back some bad memories. It was far from the first time he'd seen a family butchered by a demon, but the boy and his sister…that had left a bitter taste in his mouth…

"Nezuko…" A murmur would be heard, catching Giyu's attention as he noticed that, despite the hit in the head knocking him down, the boy was surprisingly still conscious, trying to push himself back up despite his poor state and his grogginess.

"_…quite hardheaded too._" Giyu silently noted as he landed a quick but powerful chop on his neck, properly knocking him down this time around, "_You might hate me for what I've done, but even then…you'd make for quite the Demon Slayer…"_

Giyu rose back to his feet, retying his katana to his waist as he silently observed the unconscious boy lying on the snow, his face staring off to the side scrunched with pain. The Demon Slayer stared at his form somewhat sympathetically, only to notice what he had been looking at before being knocked out and suddenly widening his eyes in shock.

Just a few feet to the side of the boy was the head of the demon, severed clean from its body at the very base of the neck. Despite having been decapitated by a Nichirin blade, its disintegration was happening quite slowly, creeping up the length of its neck towards the head. And yet, what surprised Giyu was not that the demon had managed to survive so long, but rather the tears flowing from its eyes as it watched the one that the girl had once called brother.

Seeing that, a memory resurfaced for Giyu Tomioka, that of his masked master during one of his many teachings years ago, "_Giyu, you must remember: a Demon Slayer's job is not one to take pleasure in. To slay a demon is an act of mercy to the human they once were. You'll see that, when you look into a slain demon's eyes, that their shreds of humanity sometimes come to surface in their dying moments._" He could almost hear Urokodaki saying.

It was not something Giyu had deeply reflected upon as, even when seeing those shreds of humanity in the faces of the demons he'd slain, it was hard to feel sympathy for something that had killed and fed on humans. But this girl…maybe even because of his own past…it somehow provoked a deep-seethed feeling of pity in him.

The demon would seem to notice it was being watched, and silently turn to meet Giyu's gaze. He narrowed his eyes. He knew he'd done the right thing. Even with the boy insisting he could reel the demon in, this was not his choice to make. It would end up killing not only him, but others as well before it was slain. He did what had to be done, but seeing those shreds of humanity and being reminded what she'd meant to the boy struck a chord in him.

"_A demon slayer should feel no pity for doing his job..._" Giyu mused, hand hovering over his katana's hilt, "_And yet…"_

He silently looked away from the demon before turning away and, without another word, began walking off, leaving this Nezuko girl the little time of humanity she had left to be with her brother. In his mind, Giyu played again the night his own family was taken from him. He recalled the reassuring smile in his sister's face as she convinced him to hide away in a closet and wait things out. It was the last time he'd seen her alive, the last time he'd seen any of his family alive before they were all slaughtered by a demon. Giyu's hardened gaze stared forward, that moment of emotion sinking back into his cold blue eyes.

Not once as he walked did he look back.

* * *

Nezuko Kamado felt as if she was having a bad dream.

From the moment she woke up she felt pain. Excruciating pain. At first she didn't know who she was, nor where she was. All she knew was one single instinct, screaming one word over and over in the back of her mind.

_Feed._

Naturally she targeted the closest prey she could find, but it struggled against her. She tried to bite down on it, but it stopped her with a weapon of sorts.

_Feed. Feed. FEED._

It was screaming something at her, but she couldn't make out what it was. It all sounded very drowned out to her, almost as if she was underwater. It all only made her angrier, starting to press down harder on the prey, trying to overwhelm it.

_FEED. FEED. FEED._

She felt wood splintering inside her mouth, and started to inch closer to her prey, its struggles becoming less and less of a barrier. It hurt so bad. She needed to make it stop. She needed to feed.

And that's when she noticed the tear in its eyes, and if only for a second she was able to hear his words clearly.

"Please….you're my little sister…you're all I have left…"

It all hit her like a sudden slap to the face, only a hundred times harder. In a moment, she'd realized what was happening, who she was struggling against, what she was trying to do. It made the excruciating physical pain she was experiencing seem so much tamer.

"_Tanjiro…!_" Nezuko suddenly realized, recognizing her older brother trying to hold her back. She was trying to feed…on him. On another human. On her own brother…

What? What had happened? The family, they…she remembered. Though it was only a couple flashes of images in her head, brief moments amidst the massacre, she remembered. The pale man, the screams. She tried to protect Rokuta, and then…she thought she was dead. Except she couldn't have imagined an afterlife so cruel.

"_Oh, god…_" She thought, it all suddenly coming crashing down on Nezuko in that one moment, suddenly overwhelming every instinct in her body that had been screaming her to feed and causing her to break down into tears as well. "_Tanjiro…! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!_" She tried to say, but could produce nothing more than grunts and groans in her current state.

Her brother smiled though, seeming extremely relieved to see his sister coming to her senses. "Nezuko…I-" He never finished as he suddenly looked over her in shock, a shadow falling over them. Nezuko tried to look too, but there was a sharp sting in her neck and then, once again, nothing.

She woke up again to the sound of a heavy thud in the snow, her eyes opening wide as she watched her brother crash down on the snow a few feet beside her. Tanjiro seemed dazed, not fully able to perceive his surroundings. He had a bruise on the side of his head, though it wasn't a large one. Luckily her brother was famous for being extremely hardheaded.

Regardless, Nezuko tried getting back up again to try and help her brother, but realized her entire body felt numb, and she couldn't budge a single muscle. She tried desperately to rise to his aid, but regardless of what she might try, she was unable to move from the snow. Finally, she would look down slightly, and be shocked as she realized her body was no longer there, instead now lying a couple feet from her, completely motionless, and without a head. The situation seemed completely insane to her. She was barely able to process what had happened to her family and what she'd become before being decapitated, presumably by the man with the sheathed katana in his hand who currently stood over her brother.

Tanjiro grunted, trying to shakily rise back to his feet, but stopping himself halfway there as he locked eyes with his sister's decapitated head and realized she was somehow still alive. "Nezuko…" He murmured weakly a moment before the man landed a chopping strike to his neck and made him collapse into the ground, still facing her, but now fully unconscious.

Despite wanting more than anything to protect her brother in the current situation, Nezuko was unable to do a thing. "_I have to help him…I have to do something…!_" She thought, but it was useless. She was only a head, with no body to call her own. The numbing feeling that had spread over her entire body was also creeping its way up her neck, so she also quickly realized she was most likely not long for this world. She wished she could at least protect her brother before that, but not having the power to do so, she felt herself breaking down emotionally once again as she began crying.

It was then Nezuko noticed that the man with the katana was staring at her, and her gaze would turn up to meet his. His eyes were so dark….so cold. For a moment she wondered if he would step over her brother and finish her off, but then she noticed something else hidden in those dark blue eyes. Something that almost seemed like a twinge of sympathy for her, ridiculous as it might have seemed given what he'd done. No sooner did she notice this that he looked away for a moment before turning his back on them altogether and starting to walk off.

Nezuko would watch as he did so, the sound of his footsteps on the snow growing fainter and fainter as he marched off into the distance before disappearing from her line of sight altogether, leaving her alone with her brother.

For a moment, she was relieved to see the man wasn't intending to hurt Tanjiro, but that didn't last long as she heard a brief mutter from her unconscious brother, "Nezuko…" And immediately her mood was soured again. Even if that man hadn't attacked her brother, that didn't mean he was fine. Once she died, he'd be left alone in the world to fend for himself. What would he do? Where would he go? Tanjiro was always such a kind person…he didn't deserve to be left all alone like this.

"_Please…you're my little sister…you're all I have left."_

She was all he had left.

Even though the numbing feeling had by then crawled the whole length of her neck and was now slowly making its way up her face, Nezuko was still fighting to stay. She couldn't leave her brother alone. At best he would go on to live a sad and lonely existence, and at worst he'd chase after the one who'd done this to them and get killed doing it. She couldn't let him go on alone. Even with death ever so eminent, she did everything in her limited power to push it away. She just couldn't.

"_Even in your pitiful state, you fight back against death…it is commendable."_

Nezuko widened her eyes then just as the numbing feeling reached her mouth. The voice wasn't a memory, nor was it her own thoughts. It was someone else's. Something else's. Though she faintly recognized it, it felt impossible to put the finger on quite exactly where from. It had caught her completely off guard, but not nearly as much as what happened next.

Her ears were suddenly assaulted by the loud distorted sound of a string instrument that seemed to scream at her, and in the blink of an eye she'd go from lying in the snow facing her brother to lying in a hardwood floor, staring at…well, it was hard to describe.

It seemed like the inside of a massive house, except distorted well beyond recognition. She could see stairs, doors and corridors structured in an impossible to navigate maze, all seemingly leading everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was as if the building had been made in a world where gravity held no meaning, and out of all the strange things Nezuko had experienced that day, this was definitely up there.

Before she could reflect too much on her surroundings however, she'd hear footsteps coming from behind her. She'd have turned around if she could, but being only half a head at this point left her little option. "I knew there was something special about you when I decided to gift you some of my blood…" A man's voice sounded, and Nezuko felt a chill run up her nonexistent spine as she realized this had been not only the same voice she'd heard in her head moments before, but also the same voice she'd heard before her entire family was slaughtered before her. "Most demons will mourn or plead, some might even fall back to to their pitiful humanity before death. But to so vehemently fight it…and not for their own sake, but that of another…that is sign of amazing devotion."

Nezuko would feel what remained of her head being picked up then, and brought to look face to face with the man. She felt afraid, as afraid as she had been when her family was killed by the same man, so much so she barely noticed the numbing feeling having stopped just short of reaching her nose. "It would be a waste to let you die like this…" The man noted, staring at her with burning red eyes, seeming to almost glow with deadly intensity in the shadow of his white fedora. His lips twisted into a cruel smirk, "Consider what I'm about to give you your second chance."

She would feel his fingers piercing into her head, and for the second time that day, Nezuko felt the excruciating physical pain of demon transformation as her limited body tried to adapt itself.

* * *

"NEZUKO!" Tanjiro cried out, waking up with a start. He sat up, panting and sweating coldly as he recalled what had happened. He looked off to the side where he'd seen his sister's head watching him, but was met with nothing but snow and ash. He looked around, searching for her body as well, but much like the head, it seemed to be completely gone.

Tanjiro quickly began to panic, and tried to feel for her scent in his surroundings. He'd quickly pick up on the swordsman and was able to determine he'd gone off already, but try as he might Nezuko's scent was only focused around the clearing where that man had attacked her. There was no trace hinting as to where she could've gone. His sister might as well have disappeared into thin air.

"No…" He murmured to himself, collapsing down on his knees as he realized there was no way around him where his sister could've gone off to, "No, no, no, no…!" Tanjiro looked all around him, trying to find anything, a trace, a hint of what might have happened. "NEZUKO!" He soon enough screamed, rising in a stumble and starting to make his way through the forest, "NEZUKO, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

With no other option left, he'd keep on stumbling aimlessly through the forest, tears flowing down his eyes as he hysterically screamed out for his sister to no avail . "_This can't be happening…_" He'd think to himself as he screamed his sister's name, "_I saw her…Nezuko was still there…I could've saved her. I might've failed everyone else, but I know I could've saved her…!" _

This would go on for what seemed like forever. Despite having grown up playing in that forest nearly every day, Tanjiro had no sense of direction at that moment. His feet moved by themselves, his only focus being to try and find something, anything of his sister.

It would be hours, or maybe just minutes, but Tanjiro would eventually trip on the root of a tree hidden underneath the snow in his reckless stumble, falling back down on the snow face first. His body insisted he stay down, begged of him even, but he refused to comply and attempted to rise to his feet, only to stop halfway as he realized where he'd wandered back into.

Just ahead of him was the house he'd lived his entire life in. Its doors opened to reveal the carnage inside, with his siblings' bodies strewn in and around it, blood painting the walls in a sickly shade of red. He'd seen that scene before, but while shock and panic had overwhelmed him last time, now he was able to properly perceive everything he was seeing. The smell of carnage seemed to finally hit him again, and this time Tanjiro felt it.

He immediately vomited on the ground, collapsing entirely on all fours. He cried hysterically, fully aware now that everyone was gone. His family was dead. Nezuko was dead. Whatever semblance of hope Tanjiro still held onto was now dead as well. He broke down entirely, cursing how useless he was, how he'd let them all die as his fingers dug into the ground underneath the snow. He screamed, as loud as he could for as long as he could, knowing there was no one around in the mountains to hear him, but entirely uncaring if they did.

Time seemed irrelevant to him, so Tanjiro didn't know how long he stayed there weeping, cursing himself and overall grieving for the loss of his family. For all he knew, he might've just stayed there until the cold got to him and he ended up joining them. But he didn't. If only because, before he ever could give in to his misery, something brought him out of it and back into reality as he felt a hand be placed on his shoulder.

Tanjiro paused for a moment, shocked since he hadn't smelled anyone approaching him, before looking off to the side where a stranger now stood beside him, his palm still resting gently but firmly on his shoulder. It was a man, wearing an orange kimono and a red haori over it. He was old, undoubtedly so. Evidenced by the countless wrinkles in his face, his long white hair tied into a ponytail and his milky eyes having probably lost most of its vision. Yet the most notable feature of him, Tanjiro noticed, was the odd flame-like marking stretching from his temple to over his eyes and his forehead. The stranger might've been older than anyone the boy had ever met, and yet at the same time, even in his broken state, he couldn't help but to be momentarily awed by his overwhelming presence. Whoever this was, he was no regular old man.

"I am sorry for your family, young man." He said with sincerity, staring at the carnage before them sorrowfully, "But do not fret…I will help you bring justice for what happened today."

Tanjiro was speechless, not knowing even how to react. In his shock, his crying had ceased, and despite all the questions swimming around in his mind, he could only muster the one that seemed to matter the most in that moment, "Who…who are you…?"

The old man turned to look at him, and flashed Tanjiro a sad smile, "My name is Yoriichi Tsugikuni," He said, "and I will be mentoring you from now on."

**A/N: Hello there, kind reader. Sky here. **

**Its been ages since I last posted a story, but I feel like it'd be healthy to keep the pen sharp. This here is a premise that's been scratching at the back of my head since I caught up with Kimetsu no Yaiba's manga, but I've always had trouble with the specifics behind having it actually happen. Ultimately I think this is good though, even if it took a slight stretch for it to go down. So, I should clarify a thing or two here. **

**Muzan Kibutsuji's link to his demons and its mechanics are not something that's ever fully explained, so I decided to take some liberty with it in this story. Its something I hope to explain more in depth in the future of this story, but for now its gonna serve as a plot device ensuring Nezuko's survival.**

**As for Yoriichi…well, that's another thing. Ghosts are very clearly a thing in the Kimetsu no Yaiba world. Sabito and Makomo prove as much. They are apparently tied to this world from moving on to the next by failures and regrets, which Yoriishi is defined by. Now, while Sabito and Makomo return to Sagiri Mountain due to their link to the place, here I'm gonna say that what binds a ghost does not necessarily need to be a place, but rather an object…say, for example, a pair of earrings. This is also something I want to work on explaining as the story goes on. **

**With that said I owe a thanks to DownwardDive, who gave me the extra push I needed to fully develop this idea and put it down on paper, as well as helping me with the story as a whole. **

**Follow it if you like, Favorite it if you will, but above either of those, try and take some time to post a review, regardless of whether you love it or hate it. Authors are gluttons for feedback, its probably what drives most people in this site to write the next chapter of their story. Whatever I get, I'll reply to those openly at the end of chapter's author note similar to what a friend of mine does with his story, since it encourages open discussion for these sort of things. **

**Well, I think I'm done here. Next chapter comes…maybe tomorrow, maybe never. Both are very unlikely, but seeing as this is a practice of my writing muscles, it all depends on how motivated I am to keep on typing. So be sure to leave your ounce of motivation for me in the form of support. **

**Until whenever. Sky signing out.**


	2. Final Selection

Satoshi Uteki was seventeen years of age. He was brown of hair, like his mother, but had deep cyan eyes, like his father. The latter in particular had been a Demon Slayer in life, but just before Satoshi was born, had run into a powerful demon and had been injured beyond fighting condition, forced shortly thereafter to leave the Corps. Nonetheless, he had grown up as a boy hearing tales of his father about his days as a Demon Slayer and his brave exploits. At first, he thought those were only stories, until the day when he was nine, and ended up wandering too far into the forest near their village, getting lost as it got dark and left him unable to find his way back home.

He remembered vividly running into the long teethed monster with horns, how it had tried to attack him and how his father had jumped out of nowhere with a katana to decapitate the monster. Since that day his already weak father spent the rest of his life more often incapacitated in bed than not, but Satoshi knew from that day onward that he had to become a Demon Slayer himself when he grew up, to protect others just like his father had protected him. As it was explained to him later, it was because he'd pushed himself to use the special breathing technique from the Demon Slayers that day that his father took a turn for the worse and died when he was only thirteen. And though he grieved, it all only strengthened his resolve to become a Demon Slayer.

His mother had tried to convince him otherwise, of course, but there was little she could do to stray his mind. Satoshi, as she'd always said, was a perceptive one. And yet, he was undoubtedly stubborn. As he told her, however, he wasn't going in as just a defenseless kid. He had been taught a Breath Style like the one used by the Demon Slayers by his father before his death, who in turn had been taught the same in his youth by an actual Pillar. Urokodaki, the former Water Pillar, who had managed to slay his fair share of demons before finally retiring. He'd heard plenty about him from his father. Satoshi had once sought said old man out some time after his father's death in hopes of learning more about the Breath of Water, but the masked geezer refused to teach him, saying he should return home and live out a normal life in peace rather than seeking out something as dangerous as being a Demon Slayer.

Urokodaki didn't understand though. Neither he nor his mother did. It didn't matter, as Satoshi trained by himself almost ceaselessly for the next few years, mastering the three Breath of Water techniques his father had taught him as far as he could. Even after all this training, he didn't quite feel ready, but knew this was a step he'd have to take eventually. From his father's tales, he remembered it was a secular tradition of the Demon Slayers to hold the event known as the Final Selection in Mount Fujikasane every year on the last day of winter and the first day of spring starting at exactly midnight. This was the test that set apart those who joined the Demon Slayer Corps and those who died trying. Satoshi knew it was dangerous, but he felt confident in his skills after all his training. So he'd gone off in the middle of the night, leaving only a note behind for his mother, taking with him his father's belongings from when he himself was a Demon Slayer.

First was his katana, the same wielded once by his father the night he'd saved his life. It was made of nichirin, the metal Demon Slayers used to kill demons. Its hilt was wrapped in white cloth and it had a bronze hexagonal rain guard. Its blade, as natural for nichirin swords to do, had switched color in accordance to his father's own affinity, that being a pearly white that outlined the length of his edge. That though was not something one would really notice as it hung sheathed to Satoshi's waist.

Second was his haori, as it was old tradition for great Demon Slayers to wear. His father's was blue on one side and green on the other, but mixed in together in the middle to form a shade of cyan that had left Satoshi awestruck when he first saw it so many years ago. He felt proud to now wear it himself.

The last…well, it was a bit more specific. As he stared up the long flight of stairs leading to the place where the Final Selection would take place, blooming wisteria trees surrounding him for as far as the eye could see, standing underneath a large Torii gate just like his father's stories had described…he couldn't help but feel nervous. He'd have to fight the same kind of demons as the one that had given him nightmares for years. For reassurance, he sought out from underneath his haori the last item he'd taken of his father's before coming here.

It was an old warding mask, supposedly charged in with a spell to ward danger. It was given to his father by his master, Urokodaki, right before his own Final Selection Trials. It was made to be shaped like a fox, with a playful smile and long ears. The one thing he had first noticed about it when his father had shown him many years ago were the cyan eyes, squinted but undoubtedly painted to look like his father's, and his own for that matter. Whatever the spell in it was, it must've worked. He remembered word by word his father's response to him asking whether his Final Selection had been hard for him despite how long ago it was.

"_Oh, it was easy as pie! The demons brought into the mountain were killed year after year, so they never got much of a chance to feed apparently. They'd be fodder for any half-baked Demon Slayer, let alone your old man!_"

"_If dad can do it…_" Satoshi thought, staring from his father's mask to the top of the long flight of stairs ahead of him with renewed determination, "_Then so can I!_"

The way up was a long and tense one, Satoshi holding onto his sword's hilt with a tight grip as he walked up a step at a time. He knew from his father's story that he wouldn't be the only one up there. Many others wished to become Demon Slayers too, after all. His mind was racing as he tried to imagine the kind of people who'd be waiting for him up there.

Finally though, he arrived, and much like he expected, Satoshi was not alone. With a quick headcount, there were at least thirty kids, most of them younger or about his own age, all standing in the clearing that made up the cerimonial grounds surrounded by wisteria. They all carried their own swords, and looked quite tough to boot. Most kept to themselves, some conversed with one another, and a few even glared at Satoshi as he tried to find a corner of his own in the clearing to wait out for the Selection to begin.

It was while he did so that he heard a conversation between two of the Demon Slayer prospects that caught his attention, "Look at that kid…just who the hell does he think he is?" One of them, a boy wearing his dark blue hair in a samurai bun said.

"A dead man, that's who." The other one, with tanned skin and a buzzcut, commented, "Who in their mind would even come here without a sword anyway…?"

This caught Satoshi's attention, and he allowed himself to sneak in a glance at who the two boys were talking about. To his surprise, he'd find someone he had missed in his initial headcount of the people in there.

The boy in question was peacefully sitting underneath a wisteria tree in a meditative position. He seemed just a bit younger than Satoshi, and had ruffled burgundy hair falling down to his shoulders with reddened tips and a mark on the left side of his forehead, though it was hard to tell whether it was a scar or just a birthmark. He wore a white kimono top with a dark grey hakama and a black obi, donning a crimson haori on top of that alongside a pair of earrings that seemed to have been made to look like Hanafuda cards. True to the boys' conversation, he had no katana on him, nor any visible weapon. And yet something in him called Satoshi's attention more than any other person present. The fact that he had no reaction to those two badmouthing him despite them being clearly on earshot only served to exacerbate that curiosity.

That same fact must've had a different reaction with the two boys, who seemed to take issue with his lack of acknowledgement in their words, and soon enough had surrounded his meditating form. "Hey, kid, you must be lost. This here is a place for future Demon Slayers." The first of them warned him, "Someone who can't even get a sword to fight' em with has no business even trying."

The meditating boy finally opened his dark red eyes and turned to look at the first boy in acknowledgment, remaining silent in light of his taunting, but still staring him down completely nonchalantly in response.

This seemed to rub the second boy the wrong way, however, as he suddenly lunged, a hand gripping onto the swordless boy's collar as he pulled at him aggressively, "So you're just gonna pretend you didn't hear him, huh…? Who the hell do you think you are anyway, bastard?!"

Said 'bastard' narrowed his eyes slightly, before opening his mouth and speaking for the first time since Satoshi had taken note of him, "My name is Tanjiro Kamado," The boy announced, "and I will be the one to slay every last demon out there."

His words were loud and clear, spoken with no second thought yet nonetheless seeming to eco across the clearing. Well over half the heads present turned to look at this Tanjiro Kamado, most of them glaring. The Demon Slayers Corps were almost exclusively made of people who had lost those dear to them to a demon. To hear some punk talking big as if those same demons were nothing to him felt disrespectful to many of them on a personal level.

"…what did you just say?" The boy holding Tanjiro by his collar snarled before swinging a punch at his face with his other hand, "You cocky piece of shit!"

The punch never landed as Tanjiro's palm shot up to intercept it, his nonchalant stare unbroken. "I think we should all save our energy for the actual Selection." He told them both.

The other boy seemed ready to jump in as well, but just as the one who'd started the fight opened his mouth to reply, they would both be interrupted by a voice calling out, "Everyone, please gather round." It said, before being followed by a similar, but not quite identical voice, "The Final Selection is soon to begin."

Satoshi glanced at the direction it came from to see two children positioned between two of the numerous poles set around the clearing, these ones at its northernmost end. The two were strikingly similar and were almost certainly siblings, distinguished only by their hair colors, one being white and the other black. Though whether they were boys or girls he couldn't quite tell, though they both looked effeminate. Satoshi had previously taken note of them but hadn't been able to give it much thought with the plethora of new faces and personalities surrounding him.

Glancing back at the confrontation, Satoshi saw the boy with the buzzcut now glare briefly at Tanjiro alongside his friend with the samurai bun before letting go of him, grunting out, "Whatever, dead man…:" before starting to walk up to the two children alongside the rest of the Demon Slayer prospects.

Tanjiro though would allow himself a moment as he seemed to take a deep breath, before suddenly turning to the side and meeting Satoshi's gaze. The older boy quickly looked away awkwardly, but Tanjiro just turned to look forward again before walking up to the children alongside the others.

"_To kill every single demon….that's a tall order._" Satoshi mused as he allowed himself to glance back at the swordless boy who'd made such a bold claim, "_And yet…he wasn't boasting. That kid actually meant what he said. Is he really that full of bravado or…?_" The boy shook his head. Despite his curiosity having been piked by the boy, he pushed that though back, opting to focus on the matter at hand. After all, it was about to start…

"Greetings, everyone." The black haired child said once they were all gathered, "Thank you for all gathering tonight for the Final Selection Trials. Mount Fujikasane is home to demons that Demon Slayers have previously captured alive and trapped here."

"Demons hate wisteria flowers, which bloom here throughout the year regardless of the season" The white-haired child then informed them. "They grow in the mountain from its foot up to halfway up the slope."

Of course, this was all stuff Satoshi had been informed of by his father's stories, yet was still paying close attention to their words, if only to give him something to focus on other than his own nervousness. The others around him also seemed to be taking in the information, some with giddy excitement, others nervously, like himself. A select few though seemed completely unbothered by the danger they were about to be put in. Tanjiro, as he noted once finding him in the crowd, definitively fell into the latter of the three.

"From this point on the wisteria flowers do not bloom." The black-haired child warned them then, "Therefore, the demons residing here roam free to do as they please. You all must survive amidst them for seven days."

"Those who manage to do so and return to this place at the dawn of the seventh day will have passed the selection and shall be granted the title of Demon Slayer." The white haired child explained, "If you chose to come down beforehand, you will be forfeiting and, should you be injured, will be provided with medical attention."

"With that said, the Final Selection Trials is officially starting." Both then said with uncanny synchronicity. "Now go!"

At once, every single Demon Slayer prospect would dash, past the children and up the mountain. Quickly the group around Satoshi would thin out, each one taking their different ways up. In no time, he'd be running alone through the dark forest, wisteria no longer blooming around him. He swallowed dryly, nervousness hitting him again, but all it took was fishing for the fox mask in his haori to give him the needed strength, "_I won't fail now…father's right here with me!_" He told himself as he donned the mask over his face, _"He'll give me the needed strength!_"

With his resolve hardened, Satoshi gripped tightly around his katana's hilt, continuing moving his way deeper into the darkness.

* * *

Much further up in the mountain, a single horned demon was running his way up as well, and rather desperately too. He had been captured and put there only months ago, but he knew from the word of other demons that today was the day the takers of the Final Selection made their way up the mountain, and would stay there for a whole week hunting them down.

As a weaker demon than most in there, he knew his best chance was to hide away for this time. He'd hunted enough wild animals to make sure he could stay the whole week without becoming too bloodlusted, as it so happened to weaker demons like him when they didn't eat for too long. Luckily, for that same reason, he also didn't need all that much nourishment to keep going. Maybe, if he found a good hiding spot, he could wait out and get the jump on a Demon Slayer as to feed on them…

That line of thought was interrupted by an odd sound, similar to that of water evaporating, only somewhat louder. The confused demon stopped its dash after a moment, staring off to the side where the sound was before his eyes widened.

Some thirty feet beside him was a crouched figure, its muscular back bare for him to see. It rose from his squat, holding to either side of him two blades, its edges serrated similar to the teeth of a beast. And then, it turned to look at him, revealing that despite having the body of a man, his head was that of a boar, and the steaming sound was that of the air leaving its nostrils similar to clouds of vapor.

The horned demon froze for a moment, taking a single step back, then another, before turning back and rushing off full speed in the opposite direction to the boar-headed swordsman. "_What was that?! It wielded swords, so it must be a Demon Slayer…but what is up with its head?!_" The horned demon thought as he continued running. Once he felt like he'd opened a safe distant, the demon would turn his head to try and see if the figure was following him, only to catch, from the corner of his eye, sight of a blur moving right past him as he did so. He'd turn back forward only to see the boar-headed swordsman with both feet planted against the side of a tree trunk in front of him.

Before he could even react, the swordsman leapt at him with great speed, and with a swing of one of his serrated swords, hacked the demon's head apart from his body. Unable to do much, the head could only stare at his killer from the ground in shock as he rose back to his feet after his landing. "_No…this can't be happening…its too early…how did this guy even get up the mountain so fast…?_"

The boar then stared up for a moment before taking a deep breath and releasing a scream of pure agony and frustration, "NOT ENOUGH! THIS IS NOT ENOUGH!" He cried out to the heavens, "THOSE JERKS TOLD ME I WAS GONNA GET TO FIGHT STRONG DEMONS IF I CAME HERE, WHAT IS UP WITH THIS SHITTY SHIT?!" He pointed his blade at the fallen horned demon's head, who in turn could only watch it all in shock amidst this disintegration.

After another moment, he seemed to calm down as he dramatically sighed in disappointment, lowering both his boar head and his blades depressively, "…oh, well." He looked up again, "Guess I'll just have to find something stronger to beat up!" The boar headed swordsman then laughed hysterically as he ran off, leaping energetically from tree trunk to tree trunk leaving the shocked demon behind to finish disintegrating.

Amidst all his fear, then horror, then shock, then plainly being weirded out by the boar person, the only thought that crossed the demon's head before he disintegrated completely was, "_…was I really just killed by that guy? That's just…embarrassing…"_

* * *

Just like some demons were running away up the mountain to hide though, others were going down to face the Demon Slayers head on. Such was the case for one such demon, this one over seven feet tall with a body composed almost purely of muscle and an extra pair of arms protruding from underneath the first two.

The four-armed demon was no newcomer. This was his third Final Selection. The first one he'd killed and eaten two Demon Slayers, and in the second one it was three. They were quite spread out around the mountain, and with many others preying for them it wasn't exactly easy to stack up the numbers. Not to mention the many that had managed to escape him. This year though, he was going to beat his record, have at least five humans. Needless to say, he was a pretty big deal in this enclosed space, even if he was far from reaching the level of the self proclaimed 'king of the mountain' and all his fancy hands…

But still, he would persevere, and eat more and more humans, and eventually dethrone the king and take the crown for his own. That was his motivation. To become stronger and stronger and stronger, strong enough to eventually leave this prison of a mountain and make his own life outside again as a powerful demon.

Feeling fired up, the demon looked up and screamed out a challenge to the heavens, "DEMON SLAYERS, COME AT ME! I AM RIGHT HERE, WAITING FOR YOU ALL!" He paused then, looking around to see if there was any response to his outburst, but all he got was a soft breeze blowing in the wind.

The demon grunted, somewhat disappointed no one had appeared to rise up to his challenge, and kept on walking when he suddenly heard the sound of a tree branch rustling and turned to look back, only to unexpectedly be met face to face with a girl diving head first to the ground from the trees above. There was a brief moment in time where their gazes locked as she stood there, upside down at a perfect eye-level with him, a serene smile plastered on her face before her pink eyes narrowed and she swung her sword for his neck, surgically slicing his head off his body with a single motion of her arm.

She'd spin around and land on one knee, while the still shocked demon had both his body and head hit the ground roughly. He'd never seen nor heard her coming up until the last moment, and even then it was well too late to react, "What…?" He uttered out in disbelief, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened.

The girl in question though rose back to her feet, her black hair held by a butterfly ornament in a ponytail blowing about slightly in the wind as she resheathed her blade, serene smile still present while she watched the demon. She seemed to pause for a moment before she fished out something out of her pink kimono and drew out a coin. Without a word, she flipped it a few feet into the air before unceremoniously catching it back in her hand. She narrowed her eyes, and without even checking the coin, looked back over to the demon, "Too loud." Was all she said to him, before turning her back on him and beginning to walk off in a delicate yet firm stride.

The demon's shock quickly faded then, turning into anger, "GET BACK HERE, GIRL!" He shouted out at her as his head began disintegrating, "I REFUSE TO BE SLAIN BY YOU AND YOUR DIRTY TRICKS! FIGHT ME LIKE A WARRIOR SO I CAN TEAR YOU APART AND DEVOUR YOU! DON'T YOU IGNORE ME NOW, GIRL! I WILL BE GETTING STRONGER AND STRONGER AND I WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE-…" He was cut off as his mouth disintegrated leaving him unable to keep talking, but continued cursing and ranting all the way in his mind, even as the girl disappeared into the darkness and left him to fade away.

* * *

Elsewhere in the mountain, a demon too stood atop a tree, hidden in the shadows of the branches, waiting for his prey. This one, much like the others, had a distinguishing trait in the form of a third eye sprouting from his forehead. Said eye, along with his other two, were all watching a none the wiser Demon Slayer prospect walking through the forest, completely unaware of what was about to happen. The thought brought a grin to the demon's face.

It had been too long since he'd been allowed to play with a human. Those weaker demons were fine, animals even, in a pinch, but it didn't quite feel the same as inflicting pain into an actual human. They were the only ones who were fully aware they were about to die, and that's why they were the ones who broke down the hardest. That's why they were the ones who made him feel the most.

"_Almost…_" The three eyed demon told himself, waiting eagerly for the right moment, "_Almost, almost…_" The Demon Slayer below stopped. Despite the darkness around them not allowing him to make the human's features out all that well, he could see now that it was a boy, "_…NOW._" The demon leapt from his tree branch, the grin in his face widening to a near maniacal degree.

The boy wouldn't notice until it was just a moment too late. He tried to draw his katana, but couldn't swing it as the demon grabbed onto his forearm and landed on top of him, holding town his dominant hand by its wrist and, consequentially, his sword with it. The boy tried to aim a punch at him with his free hand as a last ditch effort, but the demon easily grabbed his fist, "Now, now, c'mon there…" He said before tightening his grip and breaking numerous bones in the boy's left hand, including every single finger, and causing him to grunt out in pain, "Lets not be aggressive here."

The three eyed demon then moved his other hand over to the boy's wrist, giving it a squeeze as well. This forced the still grunting boy to release the sword. The demon would immediately take advantage of that, taking the sword himself with his free hand and slowly raising it, the tip aiming at the boy's shoulder. The Demon Slayer prospect tried to struggle, but it was of little use, and he was unable to prevent the demon from impaling him through the right shoulder with his own sword, using it to pin him down to the ground, this time making the boy scream out.

"You bastard…" He grunted out in spite of the pain he was in, "I'm gonna kill you…I swear I'm gonna kill you…" The demon would chuckle. Now that he was closer, he could actually tell what the boy looked like. He had a buzzcut with a clump of black hair emerging from the middle of his head and a massive scar on running from his right temple, across his cheekbone and over to his nose. Not to mention looking extremely pissed off.

"Why aren't you quite the punk? But I'm not here to hear you talk, kiddo…" The demon informed him, covering the boy's mouth with his hand to stop his cursing, "Let me tell you something, brat. Ever since I became a demon I can't feel the anything anymore. No happiness, no sadness, no anger, no nothing. It's only hunger most of the time…except when I hurt someone." He then grabbed the boy's sword by the hilt and twisted it into his shoulder, leading to him screaming again, though this time he was muffled by the hand covering his mouth, "That's the only time I ever feel actual joy nowadays…"

He was about to break the boy's other arm when he suddenly paused, realizing the hand he was holding over his mouth was being bitten into. "Why, still got some fight into you, huh…?" The demon raised his hand before bashing the boy's head against the ground, again and again, yet he refused to let go, until he ended up managing to bite out a chunk of the hand's purlicue, which he promptly swallowed.

"…a human with a taste of demon meat. That's a first." The three eyed demon mused, clenching his quickly healing hand into a fist which he raised, about to pummel the boy into a gory mess. "I don't mind though, lets call it your last meal…"

Before he could bring his fist down though, he felt something pressing against his chest and, with the pull of a trigger, the three eyed demon was blasted off the boy and back a couple feet. He sat back up quickly with a grunt, a large hole in his chest where he could now see the boy had shot him with a gun of sorts, smoke still coming out off his barrel as he himself rose to his feet, "_He had a gun on him…but how did he even pull the trigger? I crushed his whole hand…"_He thought, before noticing that the hand he had indeed crushed moments ago, the hand that was also now holding that gun, had entirely healed from the damage he'd caused it, "_What…? What the hell is up with this kid…?!_"

"Well, I think its time I tell YOU something…" The boy grunted then, wrapping his free hand around his katana's hilt before pulling the sword stuck in its shoulder right out of its wound in one painful motion before raising it at the demon, the vicious look in his eyes making it clear that his anger far overwhelmed his pain right now, "I don't give a shit what you feel or don't feel. I'm gonna kill you either way! And you know why?!"

The boy then rushed him with his blade, and despite the large gun wound in his chest already healing, the demon couldn't back up fast enough, only able to raise his arm to have it lopped right off as it intercepted the katana, "Cause I'm a fucking Demon Slayer!" He announced before swinging his blade again, this time having it make contact with the intended target as it cut into the demon's neck and decapitated him

The self proclaimed Demon Slayer panted then, lowering his sword before returning it to its scabbard. After a brief look around, he'd walk up to and pick up the demon's arm, storing it away in his kimono. Said demon though was still surprised at what had just happened, and could only watch as the boy reloaded his gun, the wound on his shoulder having already stopped bleeding, _"_…I lost. What 'bout that, huh?" He thought aloud, regaining the boy's attention, "No wonder though. I thought I was picking a fight with a human…but you're a lot more like a demon then you let on, no?"

The boy narrowed his eyes before grunting, pointing his gun again at the decapitated demon's head. "Fuck off." He said before firing, blasting what remained of the demon's head into pieces. In his last moments of consciousness as his scattered remains turned to dust, the remaining third eye would watch as the boy hotheadedly marched off into the darkness of the forest.

* * *

On the other side of the mountain, a girl in white robes found herself kneeled in the middle of the forest, her hands buried into her face as she cried. It wasn't long until one of the selection takers that was passing nearby heard her crying, and would follow the noise back to her then, "Miss? What are you doing here? Don't you know this place is dangerous. Its full of demons here…" The boy said, approaching the crying woman from behind. Getting close to her, he'd place a hand in her shoulder "Miss, I-"

He wouldn't get another word in however as the girl whipped around and swung at him, hitting him and sending the boy flying back first into a tree before falling down to the ground. He grunted, struggling to get back up. The girl in question, upon turning around, had fully revealed her monstrous features, namely her large black eyes with catlike pulls and numerous pulsing veins all over her face and neck, "You humans are all so guillible!" The demon said mockingly as she approached the boy, raising her large nails ready to tear him apart. "That trick always worked out there and it still works here! You Demon Slayer wannabes are really no different!"

The boy, now realizing the situation he was in, froze for a moment, before crying out, quickly backing up in a panic but hitting a tree he'd just crashed into head first and seeming to momentarily pass out only to blink back awake, look up at the demon, and cry out again in fear as he began sobbing uncontrollably.

The demon paused, realizing then how much of a weakling the target she'd picked was and beginning to laugh mockingly. "Oh, you're even more pathetic than I thought! That's great!" She cackled, "I've been waiting so long to get a chance to taste another human! Animals are just not enough anymore, and other demons taste like shit! Humans don't wander easily into this mountain, so you wouldn't believe how hungry a demon can get!"

"P-p-please don't eat me" The boy stuttered, sniffling as snot ran down his nose from his excessive crying, "I…I don't taste good, I swear! I haven't taken a bath in five days! No kidding, five whole days!"

"Oh, kid…I won't just eat you." The demon then grinned widely, revealing her two rows of excessively sharp teeth, through which a biforked tongue snaked out, "I think I'll start by ripping your head off slowly. Only fitting given what your kind does to us…then I'll feast on your organs, your skin, muscles…I'll drink every sip of blood from you I can get, and when I'm done I'll pick my teeth with what remains of your bones."

This seemed to be too much for the poor boy, who then let out a silent scream before passing out in fear. For real this time. The demon's grin turned into a more sadistic smile then, watching the pathetic form of the boy lunched against the tree. He wasn't very big, so it wouldn't be the feast she wanted, but something about his yellow kimono and matching hair made it really appetizing to her. As her eyes laid on his katana however, she groaned in disdain. "_And yet he never even tried to reach for it…_" She chuckled slightly, "_Lucky me. Of all the humans coming up the mountain, I found the weakest one first._"

She took a step forward towards him, and she blinked. Which was a mistake, because when she opened her eyes, the boy was no longer lying against the tree. The demon only had a moment to contemplate what was happening before she fell herself falling without a body to call her own, her head having been separated from it in the literal blink of an eye.

The demon's head hit the ground, and she could only watch as the risen boy now stood with his back facing her some ten feet from where her head had fallen, hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed katana "What…what did you do…?" She asked, but received no response as the boy groggily began walking again, not even turning his head to acknowledge her, "What did you do?!" She called out more loudly, now beginning to actually cry as she watched what she thought would certainly be her prey just walk off. She had little time to speak though, before the disintegration covered her mouth and she was left only able to watch and wait for her inevitable end, "_You….you were supposed to be the weakest…_"

* * *

Not all Demon Slayer prospects were being as successful as in those situations though.

One such example was a certain boy with a samurai bun and dark blue hair. He found himself cornered, with a demon menacingly approaching him from one side and the edge of a cliff in the other, a deep gash marring the side of his head from his forehead, over his eye and to his cheek. He was panting heavily, holding his sword before him with trembling hands, _"I did it…it was tough, but I cut its head off._" He thought to himself, "_So…why is it still coming at me?! This thing should be dead!_"

The demon cackled at him, "You might have some talent, but you didn't come here prepared! If you weren't such a dumbass, you might've even killed me!" It rushed the boy, who tried to swing at the incoming threat, but with his damaged eye, depth perception was not exactly his forte, and thus his swing was way overshot and missed its target entirely, allowing the demon to knock the blade right off his hands and punch him in the gut, sending him sprawling, landing only a few feet away from the cliff. He struggled to rise quickly, but knew he had no means o defend himself with as the demon once again lunged at him. "Tough shit, kid! You're done for!"

The boy closed his eyes, preparing for his end…except it never came. Instead, he heard the sound of flesh being cut and something dull hitting the ground, then silence. Realizing he wasn't dead, the boy would open his eyes and see something unexpected. An all too familiar boy with long dark red hair and a a crimson haori stood before him. Both the demon's head and its body were before the newcomer, having been separated through obvious decapitation, as evidenced by the small bloodied wood axe the boy was currently holding.

"_My name is Tanjiro Kamado, and I will be the one to slay every last demon out there_._"_

"_So he did have a weapon hidden away…_" The boy thought to himself, gazing at the axe, "_But…if my sword wasn't able to kill it, can he really do it with that tiny axe?_"

Sure enough, just as Tanjiro was walking towards the head, its eyes then opened, and it began shouting, "You bastard! This was between me and him, who the hell do you think you are stepping in like that?!" The decapitated head ranted as its body quickly began rising back to his feet behind Tanjiro, "I'll show you what happens to nosy humans like you!"

"Look out!" The boy warned as the body leapt in to attack. Tanjiro didn't seem to need warning though as he easily moved to the side to dodge the body without as much looking, and when it stopped and tried to turn around, landed a kick flat on its chest, pushing it back and causing it to fall off the cliff and into the forest of wisteria flowers awaiting down below.

"You son of a bitch! Now you really done it!" The head ranted, with Tanjiro turning his attention back to it, "You think that's gonna stop me?! You can't kill me with those flimsy weapons!" It told them even as it was grabbed and lifted by its hair, "I'm just gonna heal from this and then I'll kill you both, just you wai-" Before it could even finish, Tanjiro had thrown the bodiless head off the cliff after the body, soon enough disappearing below under the wisteria as well.

With things settled, the boy turned to look at his savior, unsure of what to say after having been saved by the same guy he'd tried to bully off the exam only hours ago, "I…uh…thank you…for that…"

Tanjiro though didn't seem to pay him no mind. Instead, he walked up to the sword that had been knocked off the boy's hands and knelt to pick it up, watching it closely for a moment before sighing, "You know…it is a bit ironic, that you scolded me for not being armed when you're this unprepared for fighting demons."

The boy blinked with his remaining eye, "What do you mean?"

"Demons can't be killed with normal weapons. There is only one metal able to slay them permanently, and this…" He flipped the sword upside down and stabbed it into the ground, "is not it."

"…oh." The boy said, feeling twice as embarrassed now. Not only was he saved by the person he'd almost started a fight with, but he was also obviously in the wrong for what he did antagonize with him about in the first place.

"Anyway, that gash on you looks bad. You should head back down the mountain and look for some medical attention." Tanjiro told him, turning his back on the boy and starting to walk away "You won't be surviving the full seven days here with a blade like that."

"But…what about you?" He then asked, "You don't have a weapon with that special metal either, right?"

Tanjiro paused for a moment, before saying, "…I'll figure it out."

"Well, at least take my sword with you!" The boy insisted, "Even if it can't kill them, it should be easier fighting with it than with that flimsy axe, right?!"

The crimson-clad boy then only glanced from over his shoulder to the one he'd just saved, "Against the things in this mountain, I don't need more than this to defend myself." He said, before looking back forward and continuing walking. The boy narrowed his eye, still disliking the arrogant attitude that had first led him to picking that fight, but it was hard to argue with him now when he had just proven his point. All he could do then was to silently watch as Tanjiro purposefully made his way back into the forest, soon disappearing and leaving him once again alone.

**A/N: ****So...first off, I really couldn't have expected the attention this chapter garnered. After all, 31 favorites and 37 followers was well above my very optimistic initial prediction of twenty each. Hell, it's even past my prediction of how many the second chapter would get. I think I really got something right here if so many of you want to read this, huh?**

**Anyway, I gotta admit this chapter kinda bothers me, and I'll explain why. Originally I planned for the Final Selection to be just one massive ass chapter, but by the time I reached ten thousand words I realized that maybe this was a bit too much, so I chose instead to split the chapter in two. Meaning this is not as much an individual chapter as it is half of a bigger thing. A lot of setup and not that much payoff. This one OC actually, which I decided to add. From my experience writting fanfiction, people don't all take well to OCs and might get the wrong idea that I'm putting a personal creation above the plot of the story, which is fine if that's what you're writing, but its not really what I'm going for. Satoshi's main purpose is giving a point of narrative here that allows Tanjiro to remain more mysterious for time being, which is also the reason I'm leaving everyone in the dark for exactly what he did in the last two years between this chapter and the last, as well as fitting some plot points left over from canon that I couldn't fit in the exact same way in this story. Though in retrospect, it probably is kinda weird that this whole chapter doesn't have any POV's written from named characters other than this guy I just introduced.**

**If I can say anything though is that I had a lot of fun writing the individual parts with the Five Senses, which is what I'm calling the five main kids for obvious reasons, and had a blast in paralleling them through the small things, like every demon having some connection to the Demon Slayer outlined in the POV previous to his, or how each one decapitates the demon in similar yet very different ways befitting of their style. Regardless, I'd thank DownwardDive again, since he convinced me to keep that idea. It might also be why I had to split the chapter on retrospect, but oh, well. At least you guys should be able to expect the next release to come some time soon.**

**This is Sky from the far off future speaking. Due to a problem where I accidentally reposted Chapter 25 of the fic over Chapter 2 like a total goddamn idiot, I had to replace this old chapter with its Ao3 version and thus lost all the replies to the old reviews I originally had answered in this chapter. Maybe I'll fix all that eventually and reply to every single review posted on chapter one including the ones that came post this chapter's posting, but for now I'm keeping this here as a placeholder.**

**Well, I hope you liked the chapter, if yes, great, please Review. If not, great, also please Review. I promise I'll reply to anything you post there. Anyway, that's it for today. Look forward to the next chapter probably coming soon, since I have a lot of it written out already. Sky signing out.**


	3. The Hand Demon

Elsewhere in Fujikasane, Satoshi Uteki sidestepped past the lunge of a demon. He had managed to hide and avoid confronting demons directly for a long time, but a couple hours into the Final Selection, he was finally caught off guard, and forced into a fight. Despite nervous at finally being forced to face his worst fear head on, he was at least glad for the fox mask covering his face and hiding all that uncertainty, "Get back here, you mask bastard!" It cackled manically, moving at him again, "I'm gonna tear you up!"

Raising his nichirin blade before him, Satoshi took a deep breath, "_Come on now, you can do this…_" He rushed forward to meet the demon's dash, "Breath of Water, First Step: Water Surface Slash!" His blade seemed to be enveloped with a thin stream of water as it was swung then, decapitating the demon with a single, powerful slash before it ever had the chance to reach Satoshi.

Both the demon and its head hit the ground, "Damn it! You shitty Demon Slayers and your shitty swords! It might not be by me, but you'll get ripped apart by some other demon, bastard, I know it!"

The demon would continue shouting obscenities as it faded away, with Satoshi only standing there watching it from behind the mask. Once it was really dead, he'd move the mask to the side of his face to reveal an expression of surprise, "Wow…I did it…" He said, still processing the fact that he had actually managed to bring down a demon like that, all with a single blow. What had seemed to be his greatest fear after that traumatic experience for so many years, taken down, just like that. "_I think…I think I can do this, dad._" He said, gripping his katana tightly, as he looked at its blade, watching his own reflection and the determinationin the image of his eyes, "_I can become a powerful Demon Slayer too!_"

Unfortunately, it wasn't quite that simple, and he'd find that out fairly quickly as his moment of pride was broken by the sound of something crashing behind him. Satoshi would turn around to see another boy, having apparently crashed onto the side of a tree. It took a moment, but he would recognize the boy in spite of the numerous wounds he donned as the very same kid with a buzzcut that had nearly picked a fight with Tanjiro Kamado. He groaned, struggling to get back up and panting heavily as blood poured from a wound in his head and down his face. His whole body was shaking as he raised his katana in front of him before noticing Satoshi there and locking eyes with him, making it clear to see the sheer terror in his face, even if he knew he couldn't run away. The boy muttered a single word.

"…run." That was all he could get out before a massive arm shot out from behind the trees, stretching across the clearing and towards him at great speeds. The boy tried to raise his sword and stab through the hand, and though he managed to do so, it didn't prevent it from still reaching his head and crushing it against the tree trunk into a gory mess, snapping the katana stabbed through it in the process.

Satoshi froze at witnessing such a gruesome death, and turned his gaze to where the massive arm had come from, which was when he saw it. Sprouting from the trees was a hulking mass of flesh, its skin green and its massive body enveloped in grotesque veins, with numerous arms sprouting from all over its body, including most of its face with the exception of its eyes and nose. It had its extended arm grab onto the buzzcut boy's leg and drag it back to him, before opening a gaping maw hidden between its numerous arms and swallowed the boy whole, the sound of it crunching the body to bits clear to hear even from where Satoshi was standing.

"_What…what the hell is this thing…?_" He asked himself, unable to do anything other than tremble in the face of such a massive monster, "_Is it….is it really a demon…? I thought demons were supposed to be people that were turned…that thing…there's no way that thing was once a human…_"

It then seemed to notice Satoshi presence, and turned its large crossed pupils in his direction, before its eyes narrowed in what seemed to be amusement at something. "Well, well, now…" It said in a raspy voice, "It seems another one of you cute little foxes have wandered into my territory…"

"_Foxes…?_" Satoshi thought in slight confusion before realizing, "_Is he referring to the warding mask?_" Despite his overwhelming fear, he found it in himself to enter a stance holding his sword before him, "What do you mean by that?"

"You must be another student of Urokodaki's, aren't you? I can tell by the mask." The Hand Demon said gleefully, pointing some of its many index fingers at him, "That bastard imprisoned me here many years ago. I've taken upon myself to devour every student of his that I come across since." It then paused for a moment, seeming to count on its many fingers, "You would be the thirteen…no…fourteenth one you brats that I've eaten since I got here."

"_Fourteen?! I thought the demons here were supposed to be weak….How did this one manage to stay alive and get so big…?_" Satoshi thought before shaking his head, "_It doesn't matter how big or strong he is! I'm a Demon Slayer, and bringing down strong demons is what great Demon Slayers do!"_

"Actually, this mask was my father's…" Satoshi said, anger and conviction overriding his initial fear of the demon and allowing him to speak up, "He was Urokodaki's student, not me…but it doesn't matter. You've killed so many people…I can't let you go on living!"

"Your father's huh…?" The demon noted, scratching its head with some of its many hands while outright ignoring Satoshi's claim to kill it, "Ah…I guess it doesn't matter. I might've missed your dad, but I'll just make up for it by eating you!" It cackled then, extending its arms towards the boy.

"_Okay…it's big… but that just means he isn't as fast in moving around. I gotta dodge his arms, close the distance and slice his neck off…" _Satoshi held his sword before him, his mind set on facing the demon, and yet his trembling flesh refused to fully comply, "_But first…you gotta move…so cut this out! Don't think! Just move…move…!_" Deeply breathing, he gripped his katana tighter to overcome his trembling and widening his eyes before finally moving, managing to dodge the incoming hand, spinning around and swinging his blade to cut through the arm. Then he repeated the process by ducking underneath another arm and lopping it off with an upward swing. He repeated the process a couple times. Dodge the arm, then attack and slice it off, first dodge, then attack, dodge, attack. That is, until he tried to dodge and was met with a second arm having hidden its attack behind the first. Though Satoshi tried to move, he was clipped by the blow and sent sprawling about.

"How pathetic!" The hand demon laughed, "You said you were gonna kill me, but you can't even defend yourself! I shoulda known you weren't a disciple of Urokodaki from the start, that old man wouldn't waste his time training such a weakling!"

"_It's right…_"Satoshi groaned as he rose with difficulty, blood dripping down his forehead and the mask on the side of his head cracked after he'd bounced his head off the ground during landing, "_Dodging and cutting those arms isn't enough. I gotta get in close, and cut off its head…even if that neck seems tough…_" He shook his head, "_No! You can't focus on that now! No ifs! No buts! I just have to give it my all and do it!_" The boy grit his teeth, breathing in deeply as he gripped his blade, "Breath of Water, Fourth Style" He called out, fighting past the pain and summoning forth a stream of water to envelop his blade's edge before he once again dashed at the demon. "Striking Tide!"

"You wanna go again? You're persistent, I'll give you that!" The demon bellowed at him before sprouting more of its arms towards Satoshi. He moved like water however, weaving between them with newfound fluidity and precision in his movements, cutting through the arms without a moment's hesitation and all the while causing the water around his blade to grow more and more into a powerful stream. Despite that, he was working to the best of his abilities at the moment, pushing his breathing technique to its very limits in spite of the fact that doing so made his lungs feel as if they were about to burst.

"_It doesn't matter!_" Satoshi told himself as he slashed another arm off after moving past it, "_The pain doesn't matter! Your limits don't matter! You gotta keep pushing, gotta keep going, build up momentum…! That's the only way you'll be able to cut its head off!"_

Having closed over halfway the initial distance between himself and the Hand Demon, Satoshi would leap over an arm from below before slashing it off, followed by rolling upon landing to dodge another arm from above, which he cut off with a swing the moment he rose again. "_This is it! I can do it!_" He told himself, gripping his hilt tightly with both hands as he finally began approaching the demon while yet another hand was shot out at him. He brought down his blade to chop it off, as he'd done several times already, only for the arm to suddenly curve in an unexpected way, causing his blade to miss its mark and instead only produce only a gash on the massive appendage's wrist.

Satoshi cursed, but was unable to leap away in time as the hand took ahold of his left leg, and suddenly he felt himself being yanked over the demon's head by the flexible limb, the powerful stream on his blade fading as his concentration was disrupted. He was swung by the demon across the air with little reference for where he was heading until he impacted a tree trunk chest first, bouncing off it and hitting the ground hard.

He coughed out blood, an intense pain suddenly coming over his chest as he realized the impact had broken a couple ribs. Satoshi tried to fight past it and rise again, but quickly collapsed as he realized it wasn't only his ribs that were broken, but his left leg as well. He looked down in pain and frustration, his warding mask breaking apart completely and falling into pieces on the ground before him. "_Shit…this is bad…I can't fight…is this really it?_" He grunted, clenching his fists, "_I thought I could be a Demon Slayer…but there's no way anyone could kill that thing…Its just gonna keep eating more and more people…this is all hopeless…_"

The Hand Demon meanwhile was laughing at the boy's despaired situation, "Oh, there he is, breaking down! I always love this part the most! The moment when they realize they're gonna die, its just the best feeling!" It watched as slowly, he would get on one knee and sheathe away the katana he had managed to hold onto in spite of being thrown around so violently, returning it to its scabbard, "Would you look at that? He really lost all fighting spirit on him….that's right, brat. Its useless to resist. Nothing's gonna stop me from eating you up just like all the others…"

Something happened though that the demon didn't expect, and that was Satoshi untying his katana, and using it as a cane to force himself back up on his feet with significant struggle. He managed to get into a proper stance in spite of his busted leg, and held onto his scabbard with one hand, while wrapping the other one around its hilt, ready to draw the blade at a moment's notice. He took a deep breath, powering through the intense pain in his broken ribs, "I don't care if you're gonna kill me…I'm gonna fight you all the way down! I'll cut as many hands as I can before you pull me apart! I'm not dying to a piece of shit like you without any resistance!"

The demon was surprised by this, widening its eyes momentarily, "…well, I was wrong." It chuckled cruelly, "You know, you might not be as fast as the pink haired brat with the flowered kimono, nor as strong as the peach haired brat with the scar by his mouth, but you're still the most stubborn one I've eaten so far!" It laughed then, many of its arms sprouting out and morphing together into a mass of flesh, "You're not gonna cut a single hand of mine anymore, you cocky little shit!" An even larger arm then sprouted from the mass of flesh, extending rapidly towards Satoshi once again.

Satoshi grit his teeth, already knowing there was no way he wasn't going to be able to cut through an arm that big off in his current state, but that didn't mean he wasn't gonna try. "_I'm sorry dad…!_" He thought as he began to draw his blade as the arm approached him, only for something to catch his eye, something glistening against the little moonlight present in the forest directly above the demon,

Before he knew it it came crashing down directly on its head, revealing itself to have been a woodcutter's axe, now sunken fairly deeply into the demon's temple. This caused a moment of shock that led to the demon hesitating for an instant just as the hand was right upon him and ended up saving Satoshi's life when he felt something tug at his haori and drag him out of the massive appendage's path in an moment's notice, so close that he could see the darkness around the palm enveloping before him a moment before he was dragged away from it through the space between its thumb and index fingers as it closed into a fist with enough strength to easily crush his head just as he'd seen it done to the other Demon Slayer prospect earlier. Dragged out of the attack's way, Satoshi found himself skidding back first across the ground, stopping near a tree with the katana he'd failed to draw still in hand. He groaned, pushing himself to rest his back against it and maybe get an idea of what had happened. What he saw was not something he expected.

Standing only a few feet ahead of with his back turned to him was the same crimson haori clad boy with the Hanafuda earrings as he'd seen right before the start of the Selection. "_Tanjiro…Kamado…!_" He remembered, quickly realizing it had been him who'd thrown the axe in the first place, as well as tugged him away from the Hand Demon's grasp at the last moment.

It was, in fact, something said demon was quite annoyed about as it simultaneously retracted the large hand it had created and used one of the arms around its neck to pull the axe off its head before crushing its shaft entirely under its grip and dropping its useless remains down to the ground. "Oh, a newcomer. You should know better than to mess with my food, brat…especially one of my foxes. I take special pride in eating those fools…"

Tanjiro meanwhile only seemed to watch the demon curiously, "…a demon as big as you shouldn't exist in a place like this. How many of these would-be Demon Slayers did you feed upon?"

The Hand Demon's annoyance faded, as it seemed amused by the question, "Oh, do you wanna know? Hmm…its been so long, I lost count of it, but I've devoured at least fifty of you brats since I was put here decades ago."

Satoshi grunted angrily, glaring daggers at the demon upon being told those fourteen students were only a fraction of the people this monster had devoured. Tanjiro though only closed his eyes, "…it really doesn't change things at all, but at the very least its nice to know how many souls I'll be avenging when I put you out of your misery."

Hearing that, the injured Satoshi blinked in surprise, "Wait, you can't mean you wanna fight the thing! It just broke your only weapon!" He told the other boy, trying to stand up, only to fall back down clenching his chest painedly, "Listen…you gotta run away. With my injuries, I'm a goner either way, but I can't let you kill yourself against that thing. It's interested in eating me, so I'll provide a distraction so you can escape for it…"

Tanjiro looked over his shoulder at the injured boy then, narrowing his eyes before turning fully and beginning to walk towards him, "That's not going to happen. You are obviously too injured to even stand up, let alone fight." He then stopped, standing over Satoshi, "From where we stand, there are now two possible futures depending on your choice. Either we are both killed and eaten just like so many before us," And then he extended his hand to Satoshi, "or you can give me your sword, and I promise you that this demon won't ever hurt another person again."

The Hand Demon narrowed its eyes hearing that, "I'm tired of you brats talking loud like you're actual Demon Slayers!" It grunted, before three arms began extending together at high speeds towards Tanjiro, aiming to rip the boy to shreds before he could ever turn around and realize what was about to happen.

Satoshi noticed what was happening behind him and widened his eyes, again trying to stand up, but again failing, "Ugh…you idiot…we're both dead now…" He sighed, and looked up at Tanjiro, only to meet his eyes for the first time, and to see something he hadn't before. Rage. Filtered through a mask of composure, but clear to see in his eyes. Despite being more expressive than this boy, he understood it far too well. So many people had their lives taken by that abomination of nature, it didn't deserve to exist. He had fought until he couldn't stand, and despite not knowing this crimson clad boy, something in him told Satoshi he'd do the same. "…fine." He finally consented, raising his scabbard and the katana sheathed in it and thrusting it towards Tanjiro, "Make it pay then."

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes, but lowered his head, and reached for the blade, taking a hold of the hilt just as the three hands enclosed upon him from above, "…thank you," He said, and a second later, the three hands would be heard dully hitting the ground as Tanjiro held the unsheathed blade to his side. "I will."

Satoshi widened his eyes, having been in perfect position to see everything that had just happened. In less than a moment, Tanjiro had drawn the katana from its scabbard, swung it over his lowered head with perfect timing to sever all three hands enclosing upon him at the wrist, then completing the rotating motion by swinging it horizontally until his hand was stretched to the side holding the blade horizontally, scratching a thin line at the bark of the tree Satoshi stood at less than half a foot over his head. "_What…? How did he see that coming? And not only that, he drew the sword so fast and managed to follow up with such perfectly accuracy…this guy knew exactly where he was aiming for…_" Satoshi stared at him in shock, finally realising that maybe Tanjiro's words, far fetched as they might have seemed, were not so empty after all.

"Its decided then." Tanjiro said, turning around to face the demon, pointing his newly acquired white nichirin blade at the demon before him, "I'll be taking your head tonight."

The Hand Demon was surprised too, widening its eyes at having three of its limbs cut all at once. "…you're…fast…" It narrowed its eyes then. "But it doesn't matter. You're just another talented brat over your head. I've met many since I got here, and they all ended up eaten just the same!" A dozen arms sprouted from its fleshy body, one by one shooting out towards their new target.

Tanjiro never rushed, walking to meet their advance with a calm stride, breathing in deeply as hot air filled his lungs. He raised his blade, and as the first arm approached, he swung again for the wrist, easily slashing it off with a one handed grip. The next eleven that followed were no different. Even when they came one after another in quick succession, Tanjiro only made the barest of movements to avoid their deadly grips, and then he slashed them off indiscriminately.

Satoshi on one hand was awed with the ease the boy was dealing with the hand demon's assault. He'd pushed himself to his limits using the Breath of Water and even then he was unable to get past those hands. And yet, here Tanjiro was, literally strolling past these attacks while casually cutting them down.

The demon on the other hand was quite unnerved by that display, and that was clear to see in the widened surprise in its eyes. "You know…" Tanjiro then said, as he lowered his blade, still walking towards it even when leaving behind a trail of dismembered hands melting away into piles of flesh, "You seem to pride yourself a lot in the amount of humans you've eaten, but I've been thinking…people only come up this mountain once a year for the Final Selection, meaning that compared to the demons out there, you have a lot less chance to feed yourself with one of us.

The Hand Demon narrowed its eyes then, "What are you insinuating, you brat…?!"

"I think you know," Tanjiro donned a small yet knowing smirk in his face, "You're just the biggest fish in a small pond, aren't you?"

The idea of this being what counted for a big fish on a small pond unnerved Satoshi, but this seemed to actually anger the monster, "How dare you…?! I'm gonna tear you up to pieces and make you watch as I eat you, you insolent little shit!"

Just as it said that, the ground underneath Tanjiro would shake, but he would leap into the air a moment before three hands burst from under the ground to try and grab him. The middle one shot up after him, trying to take a hold of the boy, but as it closed in to grab onto one of his legs and entrap him, Tanjiro would raise his leg to escape its grip before landing atop the now closed foot, giving him footing to swing his katana and cut off the two other arms as they rose to catch up with the first one before using the middle fist as an trampoline as it quickly opened again, at which point Tanjiro moved onto the fingers and used their motion to leap high into the sky, descending directly towards the Hand Demon.

Said monster glared onto the boy, "Got you now, you arrogant brat!" It cried out as several of its arms morphed together once again, this time shooting out as hand big enough to easily take ahold of Tanjiro and break his spine with a single squeeze. Satoshi watched nervously as the crimson clad boy wielding his sword found himself in an impossible situation, seemingly unable to dodge the attack midair and avoid being crushed. Only he remained as calm as ever, and as the massive hand approached, ready to grab him, he only swung his sword, severing four of its fingers in a moment, from index all the way to the pinky, before grabbing onto the side of the thumb and using it to pull himself up and land in the back of the large palm followed by dashing down the length of the massive arm and towards the Hand Demon's head.

This seemed to really make the demon panic as he now saw a Demon Slayer finally closing distance on it once again, and sprouted several more hands along the length of its massive fused arm in an attempt to halt Tanjiro, but proved completely unsuccessful as every single rising arm was easily cut down by the young swordsman without barely slowing him down. Finally, he leapt, closing the distance between himself and the demon's head all the way. Satoshi held his breath, knowing this was the moment of truth. Tanjiro had managed to do everything he'd failed in doing, but was yet to overcome the biggest hurdle of cutting through the beast's fortified neck. Should he fail, he clearly saw the numerous arms already rising to intercept him, and knew his savior would be killed just like everyone before him, and then Satoshi himself would follow after him.

It was now or never.

With a deep breath, Tanjiro grabbed a hold of his katana with his second hand, for the first time since he'd taken it and, while still midair, slashed right through the numerous arms protecting its neck without a moment's hesitation, finally decapitating the Hand Demon.

"You…you cut through my neck…!" The demon said in shock, the numerous hands that had been closing in around Tanjiro quickly fading into a fleshy viscous substance as both the head and the one who'd divorced it from its body landed with varying levels of smoothness, "That's…impossible…you should be dead…"

Satoshi widened his eyes in disbelief, the monster he'd moments ago had deemed unbeatable being decapitated before his eyes, and without even laying a finger on its attacker nonetheless. With all his training, all his dedication, he'd never stood a chance. Couldn't even get close to cutting its neck. But this boy…no, this young man…Tanjiro Kamado was truly a great Demon Slayer.

He smiled, the adrenaline that had been fueling him quickly dissipating as relief took its place. Not even for his own life, or the boy who saved him, but for the dozens of souls that had been avenged with the destruction of that monster. The last thing he'd ever see before his consciousness faded entirely was Tanjiro, standing above the fading remains of the monster bathed by the moonlight leaking through the trees, the white katana in his hands shining vibrantly as he looked over his shoulder at Satoshi with his crimson eyes.

* * *

Satoshi would much later wake up in a bed wearing hospital clothes, bandages over his chest and head as well as a cast over his broken leg. He'd learn that he had been found in the edge of the ceremonial grounds unconscious at the dawn of the Final Selection's first day. Despite having failed the selection on grounds of deserting, he was just relieved to have escaped Mount Fujikasane with his life. Still, he couldn't help but think about Tanjiro, how he'd not only saved him, but almost certainly had carried his weight down the mountain to safety. Despite all his strength and hard composure, he was still very kind deep down. Satoshi wasn't worried that he would becoming down the mountain as soon as the seven days of Selection were over however. After what he'd seen that guy do, there was no way any demon in that mountain that could bring him down.

Luckily ,he didn't have to wait for news. For the five days that he spent conscious in the improvised infirmary set up by the Demon Slayers conducting the Selection, he'd heard that eight more people that had come down the mountain, two of which had stayed a short period providing Satoshi company in the infirmary while they healed from their own wounds. Both of them had told him the same thing, basically, about the crimson-clad boy with the white blade that had saved them from demons. He never told them his own story, and they had been soon on their way back home once their injuries were treated. Not Satoshi though, he wanted to stay there, talk to him again in person.

Soon enough a week would have passed, and Satoshi would wake up an hour before dawn, making his way to the ceremonial grounds aided by a pair of crutches. Things would start out somewhat weird when, just as the first rays of light pierced the horizon, a shirtless swordsman wearing a boar head as a mask would leap out from the forest and land square in the middle of the clearing.

"HAHAHA! I AM VICTORIOUS!" He cried out triumphantly, "NUMBER ONE ONCE AGAIN, LORD INOSUKE REIGNS SUPREME!"

Just as suddenly as he arrived though, the boar man had run off as well without even waiting for the officialization cerimony or the other Demon Slayers to arrive, followed hurriedly by a messenger crow on his tail.

Soon after he left, people would begin coming down the mountain, first only a few, but by the time the sun had fully began coming up, a full dozen had gathered in the grounds, all talking amidst themselves, though he couldn't see Tanjiro anywhere in there, "_So many of them passed…_" Satoshi thought, feeling bad about his failure at the Selection for a moment, only to begin listening more closely to the chatter around him, and from the multiple conversations, he'd gather a thing or two about what he missed.

Many were talking about their experiences, and most realized something they all had in common: while during the start of the Selection they were being attacked by demons quite often, as time went by the rate in which they attacked seemed to decrease steadily, to the point where by the time the last day rolled around no one could find a single demon roaming the mountain.

Satoshi found this odd, as he remembered his father talking about how he himself had dozens upon dozens of weaker demons sent over to Mount Fujisakane over the years, all put there over the course of the year to make sure the mountain would be swarmed for the Final Selection. It didn't make sense that they were all gone so quickly…

That's when Satoshi noticed him, walking out from underneath the trees and past the wooden poles, Tanjiro Kamado arrived the last from all successful takers of the Final Selection, and comprehension dawned on Satoshi almost immediately once he saw him. His crimson cloak didn't show much difference, which was the exception, since all of Tanjiro's white kimono shirt and, less noticeably, grey hakama, were both covered by several bloodstains. And given how nonchalant he was about it, none of the blood belonged to him either. Compared to the others around him, Tanjiro seemed to have just walked right out of a slaughterhouse.

Remembering the first words he had uttered when Satoshi first saw him was what sealed the deal. Tanjiro was not a tall talker. He made bold claims, seemingly impossible claims even, and then he just went and did it. Be it slaying the massive demon that stood before him or going up a mountain and slaughtering every demon he could find for seven whole days. He'd never been arrogant, but rather he was undoubtedly straightforward with his goals and how he accomplished them.

As Tanjiro walked through the group, Satoshi would take a brief look around to see if someone else in there had noticed what he had noticed, and would find two other pairs of eyes amidst the others fixed on the crimson clad swordsman. The first was a girl with pink tipped black hair held on by a butterfly ornament, silently gazing at him him with hard to read yet nonetheless attentious purple eyes. The other was a blond boy with nervous looking golden eyes that accompanied Tanjiro as he walked through the group. Both were watching him with full awareness of his presence up until he seemed to find a comfortable place on the back of the small crowd.

"Congratulations, you all, for passing the Final Selection." The black haired child said to them all soon thereafter, "This year we've had a surprising number of takers to pass, plus a lot of others who ended up injured and forced to leave the exam in the process."

One boy who stood closer to the two children only snarled, the scars on his face twisting with his expression as he looked at them impatiently, "Whatever, I just want my sword." He huffed, "So just hurry it up."

The white haired child then said, "Of course, but first there is an order to things. We must provide you your messenger crows, as well as take your measurements for your Demon Slayer uniforms and engrave your ranks."

"There are ten ranks inside the Demon Slayer Corps outside of the Pillars themselves. Those are, from lowest to highest, Mizunoto, Mizunoe, Kanoto, Kanoe, Tsuchino, Tsuchinoe, Kinoto and Kinoe." The black haired child then explained, "Right now, having just become Demon Slayers, all of you will be the bottom rank of the Mizuoto."

"I don't care about all that rank shit," The scarred boy grunted, stepping forward towards the children, "I just wanna get my fucking sword here!"

Satoshi narrowed his eyes in slight frustration. Were he among the passers of the Final Selection rather than an injured participant watching off to the side, he'd definitely step up to challenge the angry looking boy before he started a fight. Unfortunately, he was in no such position…

"Hey." A voice suddenly came from the back of the group, and the scarred boy, alongside everyone else present, turned to look to where Tanjiro was standing, "Maybe you should tone it down a bit. From what I understand even a Demon Slayer shouldn't be out picking fights with children…"

"He is right." The black haired child then said, "Demon Slayers are expressly forbidden from using their techniques against anyone other than demons under the threat of expulsion from the Corps."

The scarred boy turned around at the white haired child angrily, "Don't you tell me what I can't or can fucking do!" He reached out to grab them by the hair, only for his arm to be stopped by the firm grip someone else's hand.

"I wouldn't do that." Tanjiro advised, standing right next to him now, leaving every single newly minted Demon Slayer watching in shock as he'd moved all the way from behind everyone to right next to the boy before anyone could even notice.

Satoshi was the only one that chuckled though, finding some amusement in being the only one there who'd truly known just how out of everyone else's league Tanjiro was.

The scarred boy was none the pleased though, as he turned to glare at Tanjiro and probably shout at him to let go, but instead met his gaze. There was a short but intense stare down between the two before the scarred boy pulled his arm free of Tanjiro's grip, "Ugh…whatever…" He said with only a hint of nervousness in his voice as he turned around and walked back to join the others.

The black haired child smiled at Tanjiro, "Thank you for that." They said, "Since you are here, maybe you should be the first one to pick the material your blade will be built from." Both children stepped aside then, revealing a table behind them full to the brim with different sized and colored chunks of nichirin metal scattered about.

"…its a nice offer," He admitted, before turning to look directly at Satoshi, locking eyes with him for a moment, "but I already do have a blade."

"Still, we insist you pick a metal." The white haired child told him, "It is part of the ceremony, after all."

Tanjiro paused for a moment, but then sighed, "Fine…but I'd rather not stay for the measuring. I don't intend to done Demon Slayer garbs." He then stepped past the two children, and walked over to the table. It took him a moment, as he closed his eyes and apparently tried to sense for the best one, but soon enough Tanjiro had picked out his own chunk of nichirin.

After he was done, each Demon Slayer had a turn to pick out the metal their blade would be forged from, even the grumpy scarred kid. By the time each one had their own metals picked out, the ceremonial grounds would be surrounded by a murder of crows with numerous birds encircling above them, "Now," The black haired child announced, "you will be receiving your messenger crows. These will be your main means of communication with the Corps, and they will be the ones to direct you on where to go for your next missions. Please treat them kindly."

Soon enough, some of the crows began descending and landing in the demon slayers. Some in their shoulders, some in the head, some in the arm, some just beside them. Satoshi felt a bit of nostalgia as he remembered from his early childhood having a pet crow that had served as his father's former messenger in his Demon Slayer days. It had died when he was still young unfortunately, but it was a memory he treasured. Among all other aspects, he was a bit envious he wouldn't be receiving one as well…

Satoshi looked around briefly to get an idea of the kinds of birds who were picking the newly minted Demon Slayers. All had distinguishing characteristics. Some were old crows, some were younger, some had pronounced characteristics…hell, he even saw one of them with a sparrow on his head rather than a crow. Most impressive of all had to be, of course, Tanjiro. As he extended his arm, rather than a normal crow landing on his arm, one with a white plumage did, "_A white crow…_" He thought, fascinated, "_I didn't even know those existed…_"

Tanjiro though didn't look all that excited about his crow though, as it quickly flew off again and he lowered his arm. Without another word, he'd turn back and start walking off. As he did, the group of people seemed to part in order to let him pass through, everyone present observing him with renewed interest after his demonstration with the scarred boy.

Satoshi himself would see this and quickly rise, struggling with his crutches to catch up with Tanjiro before he could just walk off, "Hey, wait!" He called Tanjiro out just as he was heading down the mountain, said young man turning to see Satoshi at the top of the stairway, "I never got to thank you for…you know…"

"You don't need to." He told the boy, "Protecting others is what Demon Slayers should do. I'm just glad I was able to put down that demon before he hurt anyone else."

"Right, of course…" Satoshi nodded, before looking over to Tanjiro's waist, where his father's sword hung sheathed, "Listen, about that sword..."

"I don't intend to give it back, if that's what you're going to ask." He said then, "I'm sorry, but I can't waste my time waiting for a nichirin sword to be forged. I've waited far too long already. Your Cultivator will understand if you don't bring back their sword, they probably have many others."

"Actually…that's the thing. That sword is actually my father's." Satoshi then explained, "He was a Demon Slayer before I was born, but he got hurt real bad and had to leave the corps. He was bedridden most of my life, but when I got attacked by a demon when I was a kid, he was the one to save me, using that very katana." Satoshi narrowed his eyes, looking down morosely, "He's gone now, but I was hoping to make him proud by becoming a great Demon Slayer wielding the same weapon he did…"

Tanjiro frowned slightly, narrowing his eyes as he stared down at the sword strapped to his waist, "…I'm sorry, I didn't know it was a family heirloom, nor that it meant that much to you…" He admitted, "If you really want it, I can-"

"No." Satoshi said, looking up adamantly then, "That sword is the sword of a great Demon Slayer. Maybe I wasn't worthy of it…but you are. And if you can use it to save just one other person in danger from a demon just like both you and dad did to me…then I think it belongs to you."

Tanjiro widened his eyes, practically the first show of surprise Satoshi had gotten from him so far, "…I see." He smiled lightly, "In that case, I promise I'll put your father's sword to great use."

"Please do." Satoshi affirmed with a half-hearted smile, "That way at least one person will be able to do great things with it…I just wasted all my time training to be a Demon Slayer, but I couldn't get in. Well, at least mom will be happy to hear this…"

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow, "So you still have a family?"

"Well, my father is gone, but mom is still around. She was against me coming here in the first place." Satoshi admitted sheepishly.

"And she was right." Tanjiro then told him rather bluntly, to which he froze, "It was a stupid decision of yours to come here. You're lucky you came out alive…"

"…not you too…" Satoshi muttered, suddenly downcast. "I know I'm trash at being a Demon Slayer, no need to rub it in….'

"Its not that.", Tanjiro said, climbing up the stairs and placing a hand over Satoshi's shoulder, "Look at me," The boy did as requested and looked up at him to meet his gaze again, this time far more closely, "Demon Slaying is a job for those who lost everything else. Most die young, you've seen that for yourself now. Don't be ashamed to go back and live a good life."

Satoshi widened his eyes, and for the first time he truly understood Tanjiro. The seriousness about him, those words, the pain in his eyes. He felt as if for the first time he'd gotten an actual peak past his mask, beyond even the rage he'd seen in those eyes back in the forest. For someone to be so strong…so driven…how much had he really gone through…?

Satoshi felt his eyes water briefly, but quickly tried to hide it looking away and rubbing them dry, "…yeah…okay…" He muttered, "…thanks for that."

Tanjiro gave a small smile again, the gravity of the moment fading away quickly, "Besides, its not like all your training was in vain. I bet you can use that to become stronger and protect someone too."

Satoshi nodded, bitting his lower lip, "Right…I will, of course!"

Tanjiro nodded with his smile, turning away from Satoshi and starting to walk back down when he paused, "…oh, I almost forgot." He said then, turning back to the boy, "I never got your name."

"…yeah, you didn't." Satoshi chuckled ruefully, finding the idea that this Demon Slayer that had impacted him so much in the short time he'd known him didn't even know his name somewhat funny, "Satoshi Uteki. That's my name."

Tanjiro nodded, "Right. Its nice to meet you, I'm-"

"I know." Satoshi smiled, "Tanjiro Kamado. I heard you at the first day. Given all those bloodstains, I take it you kept your promise."

Tanjiro paused then, staring off into the distance for a moment, "…you know, I didn't just mean here, right?"

Satoshi blinked, somewhat confused, "Sorry, what?"

"When I said I'm going to kill every last demon, I didn't just mean it in this mountain." He looked over at the boy, "I meant everywhere."

Satoshi paused for a moment at that. It was the tallest claim he'd made so far…and yet, for the first time, there wasn't any sliver of doubt Tanjiro could do as he said, "I can't say I doubt you." He admitted earnestly.

Tanjiro's lip curved into the hint of a smile then, but he seemed too into his own thoughts to fully acknowledge what Satoshi said. Instead, he only turned around and nodded a silent goodbye to him, before beginning to head down the stairway.

Reciprocating the nod, Satoshi only watched as the boy walked down the stairway before walking off, soon disappearing beneath the forest of wisteria, "_Tanjiro Kamado…_"Satoshi thought to himself, watching him go, "_Im gonna have to remember that name."_

As fate would have it though, he wouldn't. After all, it wouldn't be long before every single Demon Slayer was made aware of that name and all it meant.

**A/N: So here's the second part for the previous chapter. Initially opted to call this 'Final Selection 2', but since I chose to make it a separate thing already, I ended up opting to just give it a different name altogether. Plus, while I'm still not 100% satisfied with the last one, with the second chapter now written out and posted, it does work better when separated. Because while last chapter introduced the Five Senses, this one gives a bit of a better idea of who Tanjiro has become. The whole thing with the Hand Demon was also hella cool to write, and the first time I've written a fight scene end to end like that in years. **

**Cool factor aside there were also somethings in this chapter I decided to play a bit with. Like the white crow. Those are actually real, look it up. The only real purpose here is highlight Tanjiro's uniqueness, not to mention it just being a cool sounding idea. When I first started watching Demon Slayer, I was surprised with how non-special Tanjiro was from the rest of the cast, and that was a lot of the appeal he had for me as a shonen protagonist. Of course, that got thrown out of the window when you get to the Dance of the Fire God and how he actually inherited the best Breath Style of them all because Protagonist. Not that I'm complaining, in fact I'm writing an entire story with that idea far more reinforced than in Canon, but it was an initial appeal to the character that ended up being lost, though I obviously still like Tanjiro for many other reasons. **

**What else…? Well, I never did reach my 50 follow + 50 favorite goal. One of those worked, other didn't. Thought of holding off posting the chapter until I did reach those, but that wouldn't be very nice of me. Oh, well, I'm sure I'll surpass it now that I got a cool chapter out. ****The usual thank you goes for DownwardDive, whose OC name I borrowed for the POV character I used in both this and the last chapter.**

**Now onto the reviews.**

_Silver III Jhin__: I enjoy reading this. Hopefully, you do not lose motivation for this story. I love Tanjiro so much and having him learning the Breath of The Sun is even more amazing._

_PS. Have a nice day_

**Well, as of writing this I had a pretty average day. Money problems are a common for everyone, but that doesn't stop me from writing, so I guess motivation ain't lost yet.**

**Thanks for the review.**

_sebku ssj3__ Excelente capitulo wey_

**Valeu brother, é nois.**

_Lieutenant Myst__ : Yet again, I read this chapter on Ao3, I really need to stop doing that. But this chapter was really good! I like it how you didn't show us what Tanjiro did in the past two years, but that just makes me more worried about what happened to Nezuko in those two years. Since you had put on your Ao3 tags 'Evil Nezuko', I'm scared that she will be to far gone into the world of demons and that if she and Tanjiro meet, he won't be able to save her. _

_Stoked for the next chapter, and take your time!_

**Well, here's a bit more Tanjiro for you, though I'm afraid I'll still have to hold off on Nezuko on some time. You're right in that lots happened in these last two years, so we'll be seeing how Tanjiro spent them and how Nezuko changed since then some time in the future. **

_Squishy4953__: five senses is actually an apt name for these guys. looking forward to your next chapter_

**I know, right? I should totally officialize that within the story when it becomes relevant to do so. **

_DEMONEZUKO: An update? Yes. Lmao Tanjiro needs a chill pill_

**Not a chill pill as much as an antidepressant maybe, but yeah I get your point. **

_Dreams of NoBody__: Is tanjirou going to have the traditional katana as a weapon or will he have more exotic ones like the dual axe and the huge metal ball of death the rock?/stone? Pillar has?_

**As you probably saw this chapter, Tanjiro is very much a katana man. I am, however, considering a shift in weapon for others within the Five Senses. One of them is pretty much guaranteed to happen according to plan, but the other I'm still on the fence about.**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Next chapter will be interesting. We'll start doing something I like to call "Messing with the Timeline". So far we're not too separated from Canon at this point, but especially for the next two chapters we'll start seeing different things from canon in different orders or even different places. This is only so I can do things in a certain planned order to make the story flow better, but in-world you can call that the Butterfly Effect. You'll see what I mean soon enough. Sky signing out.**


	4. Clash in the Drum House

Somewhere hidden in the mountains was an old house, long abandoned by the humans that once inhabited it. That however was not to say that nothing lived in it. The house was home to inhumanly creatures, as one such unlucky child could attest to.

Kiyoshi regretted being out playing with his siblings at night. Hadn't he done so, he wouldn't have been kidnapped by the horrible monster living in this old haunted house. Luckily, Kiyoshi had managed to escape its grasp, but he'd been wandering aimlessly in the house ever since. Until, at least he was cornered by two other monsters.

The first one was a crawling monster with a long frog-like tongue, two small horns in its head and squinted eyes. The other was a large fat-looking monster with a single horn, its chest and face dirtied in bloodstains. Both stood at opposite ends of a corridor with little room for him to escape.

"I'm the one who's gonna have the rare-blood, so you'd best back away here…" The fat demon warned, "unless you want me to eat you up too, huh?"

"No way, you tub of lard!" The tongue demon cackled, "I've set my eyes on him first, there's no way you're taking this meal from me!"

Both monsters moved in, the fat one reaching with its hand to grab Kiyoshi while the tongue one lashed out its…well, tongue, much like a frog, towards him. Kiyoshi couldn't do much other than cower in fear as the two monsters fought for who would get to eat him. "_This is it! I'm done for!_"

However, a moment before either monster could reach him, the wall right beside the boy would burst apart as a figure suddenly leapt over him, "HAHAHAHA! PIG ASSAULT, PIG ASSAULT!" The boar headed yet bare-chested swordsman cried out as he exploded through the walls, his two serrated blades being swung simultaneously to both chop the tongue off one demon and the arm of the other. Both of them would back up, surprised, and Kiyoshi would be even more so as the odd figure who had just burst into the scene and landed over him, luckily not stepping on him as well. "Look at that, more of you ugly demons just ready for me to rip apart!"

"What?! Another human? Where did you come from?" The tongue demon exclaimed in surprise.

"It doesn't matter, I'll just have to eat him up as well…" The fat demon said insistently.

Both would advance at the swordsman then, uncaring for their wounds as they rushed in. The boar man meanwhile, would breathe deeply, gripping both his swords before crying out, "Breath of the Beast, Fifth Fang: Mad Cleave!" He then sliced at both demons in a mad assault as Kiyoshi took cover, quickly decapitating them both. "Hahahaha! Just two more pebbles for me to step on!" Laughing madly, he then took off, jumping all across the hallways and soon out of Kiyoshi's sight.

"_…what was that?_" The boy could only as himself as he got back up, luckily unharmed, "_I'm lucky I didn't end up getting cut up by that maniac…did he even notice I was here?_" He shook his head, "_It doesn't matter, I have to get out of here and get back to Shoichi and Teruko!_"

Kiyoshi knew, after all, his two younger siblings would be worried sick about him. Ever since their parents died it had only been the three of them. Shoichi was growing up, but he wasn't ready to take care of himself and Teruko just yet. There was just no way he could leave them alone to fend for themselves…

With that in mind, he would begin roaming the house's corridors once again, keeping a close eye at every corner not to run into a monster. It was useless though, and he knew it already. He only ended up wandering further around the house, passing through vaguely familiar areas at times, but never with a straight sense of direction. It was like the door he'd been dragged through by that monster didn't even exist anymore. He'd sure been lucky in sliding out of his haori when he was being dragged in and making a run for it, or else he'd be done for already. Still…he knew it was only a matter of time until he ran into another monster…or worst, that sword wielding maniac. Still, he had to get out of there no matter what, for the sake of his siblings. So the only option was to keep looking for an exit, no matter how long it took!

However, as Kiyoshi ran down another corridor, he'd see another demon turning the corner. This one smaller than the ones before, but still very much inhuman looking. "You…! You're the rare-blood human the big guys have been rambling about!" It said, seeming surprised, though Kiyoshi didn't understand why every monster there kept calling him a 'rare-blood', nor what it was supposed to mean. "This is my chance to grow stronger and challenge those bastards…! C'mere kid!"

It rushed at Kiyoshi, and the boy quickly turned back in fear, running away from the monster even when it was obviously faster than him. He looked back, seeing the monster quickly gaining on him, and was unable to stop as he ran into something and fell back on the ground. He closed his eyes, ready to be devoured by the monster only to instead hear the sound of slicing and something hitting the ground dully. He kept his eyes closed for another second then before slowly opening, and seeing an older black haired boy wearing a red haori standing over him.

"Hey there, are you okay?" He asked gently, offering Kiyoshi a hand, which the boy hesitantly took, still too shocked to speak. As he was aided back to his feet, he noticed that the boy also carried a katana on his waist. Kiyoshi slowly looked back, and saw the decapitated remains of the demon that had been chasing him already fading to ash.

"Did you…?" He turned to look back to the older boy then, who nodded.

"My name is Tanjiro Kamado. And you must be Kiyoshi." He gave the boy a small yet reasuring smile, "You don't have to worry anymore. I'm here to protect you."

* * *

Somewhere else not too far away, the strongest and oldest resident in the manor known as the Drum House roamed its halls. Kyogai was a large demon, retaining some of his features from his time as a human like his long black hair, yet now he had greying skin and red eyes empty of sclerae, not to mention the several drums protruding form his stomach, shoulders, hips, front chest and back.

Currently, Kyogai felt frustrated with himself. It was all because of a stupid mistake and a sloppy decision. He had finally managed to find a rare-blooded human for him to consume after so many years, and even dragged the boy back into his house. Somehow though, just as he'd entered, the boy slipped out of the haori the demon had been dragging him by and ran off. He thought of killing the boy to prevent him from running away, but it would have made a mess…too much of a mess. He couldn't let even a finger go to waste when it came to rare-bloods, not anymore.

What he had not immediately accounted for though were the other pesky demons in the house. Kyogai was the strongest, of course, but that didn't mean they held any respect for him. Parasites were all they were, having entered his home to take shelter from the deadly sun and remained there eating on his leftovers. It irritated the old demon, but there wasn't much he could do other than crushing those weaker fools and casting them out of his house into the sunlight whenever they crossed his path.

It was those two in special he had to worry about. The one with the tongue and the fat one. They had grown strong enough to actually fight back somewhat, and it irritated him deeply. It was the same weakness that had cast him out of the Demon Moons in the first place…

The Demon Moons were the twelve strongest demons, handpicked by the Great One himself, the progenitor of all demons. Even being part of the Lower Moons was an immense honor for any demon, and Kyogai had once been one himself.

"_All demons have a limited capacity for how far they can grow, how many humans they can consume before they can no longer get stronger." _He remembered the Great One's words vividly even at this moment, "_I think you will go far, Kyogai. That is why I am granting you the title of Lower Moon Six._"

But it had changed. He had reached that upper limit, and no matter how many more humans he ate, his strength had simply stopped growing. And thus he had his Lower Moon rank been stripped of him. But it wasn't without hope. Humans with rare blood existed, and eating a human with rare blood was like eating at least fifty normal ones. He had tasted a human with rare blood a long time ago, before even becoming a Lower Moon. He remembered the sudden surge in power he'd received, it was amazing…second only to the blood of the Great One himself. He knew that if he managed to find that boy, he would be able to finally become stronger and regain his rightful position as a Demon Moon.

"I must…find him…" He mumbled to himself as he walked, "Rare blood…I need his rare blood…where is…the boy…?!"

Kyogai would continue making his way down the corridor when he suddenly paused, suddenly hearing something. It was still somewhat far off, but he could definitely hear it. Footsteps were heading this way, running footsteps.

"HAHAHA!" He'd then hear the laughing, "COMIN' THROUGH, COMIN' THROUGH! I CAN FEEL ANOTHER ONE OF YOU BASTARDS CLOSE BY!"

Out of the darkness, the boar man would emerge, dashing head on towards Kyogai, his two blades already at the ready to slice down the demon ahead of him. "Another one of you…how dare you enter my house without permission…?!" The demon said angrily, raising his trembling hand before bringing it down to slam his palm onto his right leg's drum.

Immediately, gravity seemed to shift to the wall in front of him, which meant Inosuke would suddenly be running up a 90 degree angle, leading to him quickly losing momentum and beginning to fall back down, "What?! The hell is this?"

"You meddling human…" Kyogai grunted out, raising his voice now that he was attacked by this uninvited guest, "This whole house is my territory." He then beat the drum on his back, causing both him and the boar swordsman to be suddenly teleported into a much larger room in the house with a higher ceiling.

The boar meanwhile would kick himself off the floor and land with a backflip on the wall facing Kyogai, laughing manically again, "So interesting! Very Interesting!" He declared, "So you can spin the room around! Around and Around!" The boar headed swordsman then pointed his blade up towards the demon, "Doesn't matter though! Just like the others, you're gonna end up slain by the great Lord Inosuke!"

"Irritating…" Kyogai mumbled, "So irritating…" He then hit the drum in his midsection, and Inosuke would have to move as an invisible force tore apart the wall like the claws of a beast running through it. With another slap of his right shoulder drum, the room would move clockwise, landing Inosuke in his right wall, where the boar headed swordsman would rush in while cackling and jump towards the demon to try and decapitate it again.

"Tricks like that aren't gonna stop me from cutting your head off!" He declared, swinging his blade, only for gravity to be switched again to the front as Kyogai struck his right leg drum, causing Inosuke to miss his swing start falling back again, followed then by the left shoulder drum, leading to the gravity of the room falling then to the left wall, with Inosuke crashing down somewhat roughly, "That's a cheap trick!" He declared angrily, even as he dodged the invisible attack created by Kyogai's midsection drum, "Fight me properly you coward!"

Inosuke tried rushing the demon again, but just as he prepared to jump in and attack another drum slap would force him to dodge Kyogai's claw attack, and before he could dash in again, a slap to the left leg would switch over the gravity of the room to the wall behind the demon, leading to the boar swordsman to start falling once again.

"Not this crap again!" He exclaimed annoyedly as he fell, "No more! No More! Take THIS!" Inosuke spun around and tossed one of his swords at the demon's back as he fell down. It hit its target, piercing Kyogai's back drum, its tip emerging through his chest, causing the demon to stumble forward, his blood dripping along the edge of the blade and down to the ground,

"You...you hurt me... you destroyed my drum...!" He said in shock.

"HAHAHA, serves ya right!" Inosuke declared, kicking off the ground and to the ceiling, back and forth, starting to wall jump his way back up towards Kyogai.

"…unforgivable…unforgivable…!" The demon grunted out, blank eyes suddenly widening, "...how dare you, you damn human?!" He angrily struck another drum to flip the gravity to the ceiling then, before switching over to his midsection drum. Inosuke landed, barely able to readjust from his wall jump to narrowly dodge Kyogai's invisible attack ripping apart the ground he'd stood on, this time four claw marks emerging where it was previously only three.

"Close! Too close!" The boar exclaimed, dodging and preparing to jump off to Kyogai once again, only for him to lose his balance as gravity went back to normal and he began falling to the ground. Inosuke did manage to switch his balance to land properly, and immediately dashed towards the demon. Another slap to his midsection would cause the claws to tear at Inosuke, though he narrowly dodged again, this time by jumping over both the attack and Kyogai himself. He would grab a hold of the katana he'd stabbed through the demon and yank it out while swinging his other sword to try and decapitate Kyogai, and while succeeding at the former, would be unable to follow up with the latter as a palm was slammed onto the midsection the same way as it would with one of those drums, sending him sprawling across the room and away from the demon, though now with his two katana at hand.

Inosuke though would rise again quickly, laughing joyfully, "You're good! Real good! But I'm not gonna back down till I take that head of yours!" He promised, getting into a stance with his two blades.

"Annoying…" Kyogai mumbled angrily, the wound around his chest closing as he raised a trembling hand to chest level "Such an annoyance…"

"Breath of the Beast, Eighth Fang…" Inosuke called out, before rushing towards the demon at full speed, his two blades at the ready to cut down his target just as Kyogai brought down his hand to slam on his midsection, invisible claws cutting through the ground to meet the boar's dash, "Pig Assault!" The boar-headed swordsman swung his blades against the invisible attack cutting through the ground at full power, the two forces clashing head on. There was an explosion felt throughout the drum house as Inosuke was thrown back by the blast, still holding tightly onto his damaged but intact blades.

Seeing this, Kyogai would then take the opportunity to switch the gravity in the room again so that rather than being thrown back, Inosuke would be falling down towards the wall-turned-ground. Grunting at the damage he'd received from the clash, the swordsman would struggle to spin around and get in a proper landing, and though he managed to do so, it was right where the wall had been previously damaged by one of Kyogai's slashes. Upon landing on the already brittle wall, ground would give away beneath him as he ended up crashing right through said wall and kept falling further and further, soon disappearing out of the demon's sight entirely.

Kyogai only narrowed his eyes, grunting in annoyance. He'd been unable to kill the intruder, but at least he'd banished him from his house. This weakness was despicable. Had he been stronger, this would've never been a problem. That pest would've never even managed to cut his drum, which was specially an annoyance given how long those took to regenerate in comparison to his normal wounds.

It didn't matter though. None of this did. He'd gotten sidetracked by the intruder, but he still had to find the rare-blooded child. Once he did, he would be strong enough, and intruders like that one would never be a problem again…

"I've been looking for you." A voice said from behind him, and Kyogai would realize he'd relaxed too early as, once he turned to look over his shoulder, yet another human waited for him, having just walked into the room through the open door behind him. The newcomer was different from the first one. Rather than animalistic and wild, this one wore a white and grey kimono under a red haori, his red eyes seemingly sizing up the demon before him from underneath his long black hair, with a pair of hanafuda-looking earrings hanging from his earlobes, "You're the last demon left, but you also have the strongest smell. I'll take a guess and say you're the houseowner, aren't you?"

Kyogai grit his teeth, turning around fully to face the newly arrived human, "Another one of you pests…" He grunted out with his increased frustration, "You keep entering my house without permission…such an annoyance…must I rip you apart to finally get things my way…?"

"Yeah…" He said nonchalantly, resting a hand over the katana sheathed on his waist as he took a step towards Kyogai, "let's see you try." Barely could he finish saying that before the demon hit the drum in his midsection, and invisible claws tore up the ground before the human, only for him to casually sidestep the attack with perfect timing, dodging all four of the claws without even getting his haori ripped by it. His resting hand took a proper hold of his katana's hilt then, and the swordsman would move in at his target.

Kyogai widened his eyes at the speed at which his opponent moved, easily faster than the boar had been. He would barely have time to slap one of his drums twice and switch up the gravity to the ceiling as the human reached him, drawing his blade already aiming for the neck, only for his feet to suddenly leave the ground, causing him to miss his attack entirely. Kyogai would take advantage of his surprise to grab ahold of his ankle with one hand and use another hand to slap one of his drums and reverse gravity again, aiming to slam the human back down on the ground full force and rip him apart with his claws before he could get up.

Except when he brought down his arm to slam him down, he'd feel a sting of pain at his wrist, and the swordsman would backflip away from him, using the momentum of his swing to land a safe distance away alongside Kyogai's maimed hand. "…so that's your Demon Blood Art then." He noted, rising back to his feet with his white bladed katana in hand, "You can switch around gravity in this room and attack with that invisible slashing technique. You seem big, but given that flimsy grip at yours, you're not that strong physically, meaning your attack range is very limited…for someone who's supposed to be the strongest demon around, you're still quite a disappointment, you know?"

Though he should be impressed by how quickly the human had figured out his technique from just that brief exchange, Kyogai was instead overcome with anger. "How dare you…?!" He grunted out, his teeth gritting and his body shaking in pure anger. He was weak, he knew that, but he wouldn't take that from this absolute nothing of a human! Fast as he might be, Kyogai was still leagues above this trash, and he felt like showing him just how much, "I don't care anymore…the rare-blood can wait. I'll rip you to shreds myself!" He told the boy, as he placed a trembling hand over his own face his right eye rolling down from the back of his head to reveal the crossed out kanji for the number six in his right eye, "It'll be my first step in returning to the Twelve Demon Moons!"

This didn't have the expected effect on the human though. Rather than him trembling in fear and asking for mercy, his eyes only widened for a moment in surprise, before then narrowing. "So…you are…or rather were…Lower Moon Six, huh…? I see." He then opened up a small, yet very pleased smirk, "This is perfect. Exactly what I've been looking for…you're the ideal messenger for my cause."

Though still angry, Kyogai was now confused too. He hoped to intimidate the human by revealing his pedigree as a former Demon Moon, and yet that only seemed to encourage him. Was he that over his head? Did he think he could just take down a powerful demon and make a name for himself? "Your arrogance is irritating, petulant boy…!"

"Not arrogance. Certainty." He corrected the demon, raising his blade with a two handed grip into a readied stance. "You said this was your first step back into the Demon Moons, right? Well, you're wrong. This is MY first step…and its one I've been waiting way too long to take." He then took a deep, deep breath, and as he did so Kyogai could've sworn he felt the room grow slightly hotter, "Now…watch closely. This will only take a minute."

The boy would grip his hilt tightly then, letting out a warm exhale, flames seeming to spew in his breath as the white blade in his hand glistened for a moment, before suddenly being enveloped in a bright fire that had Kyogai squinting his eyes. "_A sword…of flames…?_" He thought, the power behind the technique palpable even with the distance between them, and as the swordsman stared him down intensely, the drum demon would feel his entire body suddenly freeze up. For a moment, the boy before him was replaced with the shadowed figure of a fully grown man wearing a similar attire to him while wielding a dark blade enveloped in the same bright flames and donning the same Hanafuda earrings. Kyogai didn't fully understand who the man or the boy before him were, but every cell in his body was telling him that should he step up to the swordsman before him, his life would be cut short in a second.

"Breath of the Sun," The boy and man seemed to say in unison for a moment, before the former's voice took over again, "First Dance: Waltz."

Kyogai's eyes widened, anger being replaced by fear. He knew one thing above all others: he had to keep this human away from him. The demon slapped one of his drums twice with his regrown hand just as the Demon Slayer rushed him. The room was flipped upside down again, preventing him from slashing the Drum Demon and causing him to suddenly begin falling to the ceiling, though he used his initial momentum to roll and recover when Kyogai tried slashing at him with his midsection drum. The swordsman leapt to the left wall, and used it to jump higher towards the demon from the floor-turned-ceiling. Kyogai slapped his right shoulder drum to switch the ground around again and prevent him from following, except the swordsman used the momentum of the switching room to land on the wall-turned-ceiling and propel himself after Kyogai as he stood horizontally on a wall. He slapped the drum in his left leg and the gravity switched to the back wall, causing the flaming sword slash to miss. This didn't seem to much bother the swordsman though as he landed on the wall before continuing to chase the Drum Demon.

"_He's following no matter what!_" Kyogai thought nervously as he was forced to switch around the room to narrowly dodge another flaming slash. "_I've got no choice…I have to use my trump card._" The demon would then begin striking his drums with redoubled speed, causing the room to start spinning around wildly, preventing the swordsman to get proper footing and move after him. "Rapid Drumming!"

The Demon Slayer used the little ground time he now had wisely, recovering from his impacts against it and minimizing any fall damage he'd get from the sudden shifts in gravity tossing him around. He also had to dodge the slashing attacks thrown at him from the drum demon, five invisible claws now marring the ground at every attempt. And yet, in spite of his situation, his eyes remained fixed on the Drum Demon, waiting patiently for the opening he'd need to cut his foe down.

Seeing this, Kyogai decided he needed to end the human before he got the chance he was waiting for, and switched gravity from his front wall to the ceiling, sending his opponent sprawling across the ceiling-turned-floor and into one of the walls, before finalizing his drum solo by striking his midsection drum with both hands simultaneously, ten invisible claws blindsiding the Demon Slayer from both sides, and crashing together in the corner of the room, ripping apart the wall and raising a cloud of dust.

Kyogai's eyes narrowed, trying to see through the destruction left by his attack to confirm the swordsman's death, only for the dust cloud to be dispersed by a sudden burst of speed, the young man with the flaming sword rocketing from the ceiling all the way up the floor. The Drum Demon tried slapping another one of his drums to try and switch around the room again, but was too slow, and his vision would be obscured by the katana's flame before its hot blade bit into his neck and separated it from the rest of his body. Gravity returned to normal, the swordsman flipping around to land on his feet while Kyogai's head just hit the ground dully with shock on its face, soon followed by his body as it stood for another moment before balance left it to collapse as well.

"_He…defeated me…_" Kyogai realized in shock, watching as the swordsman before him raised and sheathed away his katana, the fire along its edge dispersing as it slid back into the scabbard. "_Damn it…this is not how its all supposed to go…I was supposed to grow stronger, and stronger…I was going to become a Demon Moon once again…I was finally going to…matter…"_

The Demon Slayer then turned to look into the slain demon, narrowing his eyes as he watched Kyogai disintegrate for a moment before speaking, "…I don't know if you'll be listening to this, but I'll say it anyway." He declared to the former Lower Moon, much to his confusion, "This is just the beginning. A preface to my actual mission. Soon enough I'll start going after the actual Demon Moons, hunt them down one by one. You've underestimated and abused humanity for far too long, and I'll make each and every one of you pay for it. And then, once all of them are dead, it'll be your turn, and I'll finally finish what he started. Count your days, Muzan Kibutsuji. I am coming."

Kyogai could only widen his eyes at hearing that. This human was not speaking to him, he was speaking through him. And issuing a challenge to the Great One himself nonetheless. It was suicide, what he had just done. Even if he'd been caught off guard by that flaming sword of his, Kyogai couldn't even measure up to the higher ranked Lower Moons, let alone the Upper Moons, who themselves paled in comparison to Muzan. And yet…that vision of the older swordsman with his flaming sword told him there was something about this boy, something deserving of a demon's fear just as much as the progenitor himself.

The Drum Demon however could only narrow his eyes slightly as he watched silently the crimson-clad human walk off and out the room, his remaining body quickly turning into ash and soon fading away.

* * *

Somewhere far away, a glass of wine would fall and shatter against the ground, spilling its contends all over the carpeted floor.

A woman would look up from her book, having been sitting by the fireplace enjoying some reading, over to her husband, who currently stood facing a bookshelf with his back to her, the shattered glass of wine by his feet, the hand he'd been holding it shaking slightly, "Tsukihiko, dear? Is everything alright?" She inquired.

The man clenched his hand into a fist to stop his trembling and took a deep breath, "...yes, everything's fine, honey. I just feel dazed is all." He reassured her, "I think I'll go get some fresh air at the balcony."

She looked at her husband worriedly then, "Are you sure? You know how sensitive to the sun your skin is, I wouldn't like you getting hurt…"

"It'll be alright, Rei." He told his wife then, "Its very cloudy outside, so it shouldn't be much of an issue."

Rei seemed hesitant, but nodded still, "…alright then, but please take care."

"I will." He'd tell her before turning away and beginning to walk over to the balcony as Rei returned to her book. Had he turned over to her, she would have seen the widened red eyes holding a mix of surprise and hatred that her husband currently donned.

Muzan Kibutsuji deeply despised his pretend wife and adopted child, but of all his dozens of covers, Tsukihiko's was probably the one he disliked taking the least, if only for the fact that here he could maintain his natural form rather than having to pose as a woman or child. It had been easy enough, to get rid of Rei's previous fiancee and take his place posing as a successful traveling merchant with a rare skin disease that prevented him from being under direct sunlight. It was an annoyance, no doubt about it, but it was a needed precaution that had allowed him to remain completely out of the Demon Slayer Corps' radar for almost two hundred years now, and prevent the incident with the swordsman with the hanafuda earrings repeating itself.

Indeed, it had been a long, long time since he'd even felt threatened in any significant way by one of the Demon Slayers, but that had just been broken only seconds ago. Being the progenitor of all demons, Muzan had a direct mental link with every single one of his species. In special those recently turned or the stronger Demon Moons were especially clear to read. Any time one of his demons died though, he was made known through their link. He even was made aware of their last moments before death, though more often than not these demons were too insignificant for him to even care. Kyogai would be the same were it not for the way in which he died.

Kyogai had been a blunder of his admittedly. He thought that, with his spacial-manipulation techniques, the fool might have been able to eventually develop his Demon Blood Art into something similar to Nakime which allowed her to freely control the entirety of a pocket dimension. He'd even granted the demon some of his blood and a rank at the bottom of the Lower Moons. Unfortunately Kyogai proved another disapointment, his potential maxed out in just a couple years, so he had stripped him off his rank and left him to his house in the middle of nowhere in the off chance that he would be able to kill at least a few pesky Demon Slayers should they come across him. Pathetic as he might also be, the one filling his rank right now proved to have far more potential than he ever did. Muzan himself never thought he'd bother with ever thinking about the Drum Demon again.

But his death had proved him wrong. As his last memories made it clear, Kyogai had been murdered by a Demon Slayer, one wielding a bright flaming sword and wearing hanafuda earrings, just like those of the swordsman that had gotten so close to ending him four hundred years ago. And not only that, but the measly human had the nerve to address him directly…

"_Count your days, Muzan Kibutsuji. I am coming…_"

He was livid, hearing those words. He had to hold himself back from killing his wife to blow off steam. How dare that insignificant pest threaten him?! The thought alone that a human could stand up to him made him disgusted. And yet…he'd once been overconfident as well, and it had very nearly cost him his life at the hands of the first hanafuda earring swordsman. This one seemed much younger, so it would be only natural to pluck him out before he ever had the chance to grow stronger and challenge his power..

Reaching the balcony, Muzan would snap his fingers, and before him two figures would appear, already bowing at his feet as they well should. "We live to serve you, master." The male demon declared, "What is it you desire?"

Muzan looked over them to the sprawling city ahead, "One of my former Demon Moons was just killed by a young Demon Slayer with crimson robes and hanafuda earrings. " He told them, "Track him down and bring me his head."

"Your wish is our command." The female added, before both of them disappeared again as if they had never been there to begin with, leaving their master alone in the balcony staring off into the city.

* * *

Inosuke Hashibira woke up with a start, breathing heavily from underneath his boar head. He quickly realized he was sitting right outside the house full of demons he'd entered earlier. The last thing he remembered was fighting that weird bongo demon, and then the ground collapsed and he fell, and he fell…and then there was sunlight for a brief moment, before he hit his head hard as he fell on the ground and got knocked out for a bit. Grabbing both his katana beside him, he jumped up to his feet, "Damn it! That bastard managed to kick me out of the house!" He raised his swords wildly to the air, "I'm gonna get back in there and kick his ass!"

He then stopped, and stared off into the side, where he noticed two kids some distance away from him, hugging each other, staring at him fearfully. "What?!" Inosuke called out to them, pointing his blade at the two, which in no way made them any less scared, "You wanna fight too?!"

"…n-no…please don't eat us, mister monster…" The boy said, hugging the little girll beside him tighter as she sobbed slightly.

"…ugh. Boring." Was all Inosuke said before he turned to go back into the house, only to notice something emerging from the front door. Another boy , this one a bit older and wearing a green kimono, being accompanied by a guy looking about the same age as Inosuke himself, with black hair and some weird earrings, wearing a red haori with long over some kimono. What really caught the boar's attention though was the sword strapped to his waist.

"Big brother Kiyoshi!" The two kids then rushed past the boar headed swordsman, met by the boy in the green kimono, who quickly pulled the two into an emotional hug.

"We thought that monster had gotten you!" The sister sobbed as she hugged him, "We're so happy your safe!"

"Don't worry, guys. Tanjiro here saved me. He even killed the big monster with the drums that took me." Kiyoshi told the two.

"Thank you for saving our brother, mister!" The boy told him.

Tanjiro smiled at the kids, "Don't worry, its part of the job."

Hearing all that though, Inosuke blinked in surprise. He'd killed the demon? That guy?! "Hey, you!" He called out, getting both his and the kids' attention, "So you killed that drum demon then! That was MY opponent ya bastard!"

Tanjiro turned towards him, "…well, you didn't really do that great a job at it though, did you?"

Inosuke stared at him for a moment in silence, "…HOW DARE YOU?!" He cried out intensely, pointing his sword at Tanjiro angrily, "Who the hell do you even think you are, huh?!"

'The crimson clad swordsman narrowed his eyes, walking past the now tense children, "My name is Tanjiro Kamado, and I'm not one to stand around waiting for someone else when it comes to slaying demons."

"HAH! I see then!" The boar-headed boy passionately proclaimed, "Well, I am Inosuke Hashibira, and I'm not someone who lets others fight in my place either, Monjiro Yamada!"

"…that's not even close to right." Tanjiro pointed out blankly.

"If I can't fight that demon, there's only one thing I can do!" Inosuke declared while ignoring his words, dashing in towards his fellow swordsman, "I'll have to fight you instead!"

Tanjiro widened his eyes, and quickly untied his katana from his waist, raising it still in its scabbard to block his attacker's swords, the children crying out in panic at this development, "Stop this! Demon Slayers aren't supposed to fight one another!"

"I don't give a crap about that!" The beast-like swordsman replied, further pressing his opponent with his sword swings, though he was quick to block and evade them, quickly moving away from the children and having Inosuke follow him, "I live by my own rules first, and if there's someone strong to fight, I gotta take 'em on!"

Tanjiro continued blocking the serrated blades with his own sheathed katana, laying on the defensive while Inosuke attacked him further. An opportunity soon showed itself when the dual-wielding swordsman swung both his serrated blades horizontally, allowing him to leap between them, spinning his body midair to give him the needed momentum to swing his scabbard at Inosuke's right foot and knock him off his balance. That wasn't enough to stop him however as he stabbed not one of his blades into the ground to prevent himself from falling and thrust his katana at Tanjiro, who barely deflected the stab over his shoulder with a swing of his own.

Laughing, Inosuke continued on the attack, wildly swinging his two katana and pressing his opponent further back. Tanjiro on the other hand, would block and dodge a sleuth of slashes coming his way, all the while observing his opponent closely. It wasn't until Inosuke brought down one of his blades that he chose to act again, sidestepping the attack and thrusting his sheathed blade into his opponent's open midsection to send him skidding a few feet back, "That's enough." He told the boar-headed swordsman, "Your fighting style resembles that of a wild animal. You really put that boar head to justice, don't you? But now that I've gotten a proper read on it, I know you won't be able to beat me. If we go on any longer, I can't guarantee I'll be able to stop this fight without hurting you."

"Big talk coming from someone who won't even draw his sword!" Inosuke replied, dashing at him again, bringing down his right blade upon Tanjiro, only for the red-clad boy to swiftly deflect it, guiding his blade to the side, before quickly switching it around so his own scabbard was beneath its edge and powerfully striking the katana upward in a move that disarmed the boar of his blade. He tried to follow up with a horizontal swing at his side, but it was narrowly dodged as the now single bladed Inosuke slashed relentlessly at him. He'd only get another couple swings though before Tanjiro used the momentum of one of his blocks to let the blade spin over his right arm and be taken by his left hand, leaving him in perfect position to take hold of his hilt and draw the katana, hitting Inosuke in the chin with the upward motion to knock off the boar head high into the air and throw him back.

The now unmasked swordsman landed back first, and grunted, struggling to rise up, only to have a white blade of nichirin pointed at his chest, "Now, surrender…uh…" Seeing Inosuke unmasked for the first time caught Tanjiro off guard. From his opponent's demeanor, it was easy for someone to imagine the man behind the boar might be quite the brutish type. For Inosuke though it was much the opposite. Despite his mad grin, his shoulder-length hair, green eyes and pretty features made him look somewhat…unmanly.

"You don't look like much, but you really are something else, Gonpachiro Kamaboko!" He exclaimed, laughing without even giving Tanjiro a chance to correct him. After all, this had been the toughest fight Inosuke had since that one Breath of the Wind user, "From today onwards, I declare that you'll be my fated rival! We'll call this mighty clash a tie for today, but next time I'll beat your ass down to oblivion!"

"…uh…sure thing…" The red-clad boy said as he lowered his blade, unsure of exactly how to reply.

"Hm? Is something disturbing you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh…its just…I didn't really expect you to be so…effeminate…" Tanjiro awkwardly admitted.

There was a moment of silence then.

"THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Inosuke moved in ready to dice up his newly declared rival to bits, only to be stopped midway when the hilt of a katana struck his temple with great force. He would fall down to the ground, quickly losing consciousness again, though before he did he would faintly hear one more thing just as everything went to black.

"…maybe I shouldn't have said that last thing."

* * *

After that not much else would happen. Tanjiro would talk to the kids a bit, a white crow landing on his shoulder and spitting out a small sack of wisteria to the oldest boy after a brief explanation of what a rare-blood was. After that he would just bid them farewell and begin walking off again, leaving them and the unconcious boar man behind. Before he did though, he would stop, seemingly stopping to sniff something. He would look off into the trees for a moment before narrowing his eyes, turning away and walking off.

Somewhere closely though, hidden from all sight behind a tree though, a blond boy in a yellow haori collapsed by the side of the tree, panting nervously, "_Did he see me…? Man, I hope not…_" The boy thought, allowing himself a sigh of relief,"_Those guys are monsters! I was 100% right in not getting inside that scary place and letting those two handle it! 200% even! Hell, one of them even had a white talking crow! That's way too crazy..._"

He stopped and looked down then, narrowing his eyes somewhat morosely, "_Those are the real Demon Slayers…not a weakling like me. I don't even know how I managed to pass the Final Selection…if it were up to me that kid would've ended up eaten for sure._" He sighed, looking up at the sky from between the treetops before muttering to himself, "You're a disappointment, Zenitsu…"

**A/N: I know at least one person reading this will at least think, "boy, this guy sure likes to skip entire arcs. First Tanjiro's training, now Asakusa and the Swamp Demon." Well, I hope so anyway, or else I'm writting this for no reason. Point is, that's the whole chronology effect I talked about in the last Author's Note. Things are happening in a different order because that allows me to show off things in the order in which I want to, a lot of them having to do with Tanjiro's character. Which speaking of, will finally be getting his first POV post-timeskip next chapter now that I've shown him off from a third person's POV, something I've been waiting for the longest time to write.**

**Anyway, this chapter was unexpectedly annoying to write at times, even if it turned out longer than any other before it so far (Though I guess that is a bit expected given how much I condensed this arc so it would fit a single chapter.) . In special the Kyogai fight scenes were a pain. His ability lended itself well to animation, but less well to manga, and even less well in a writing format. Its a bit confusing, so I hope his fights with Inosuke and Tanjiro didn't turn out that hard to follow. There were plenty other fun things to write in this chapter though. Muzan's POV, Inosuke vs Tanjiro and the Breath of the Sun moment in particular.**

**Which speaking of with the last one, tis something I wanna touch upon too. While it and the Dance of the Fire God are pretty much confirmed to be one and the same at this point, I'm gonna change up a lot of the techniques used in it, or else this Tanjiro would be no different from his Canon Counterpart as far as a fighting style goes minus one breath. So a lot of techniques will be discarded, reworked and, most of all added. After all, it is Tanjiro's, and just Tanjiro's, style right now. It's his inheritance, so he reworks it as he will. I'll keep the total number of Thirteen techniques fixed, though there will be some variants like with how the Waltz Flash is in Canon.**

**Last but not least thanks to DownwardDive, even though the username might seem somewhat ironic when you look at my own. For reference, I did it first. **

**Now onto the reviews.**

_Arkham Knight: __Just found this story and it's good but so sad for Nezuko and Tanjiro. Really like how Tanjiro personality has changed but still protects others. Great chapter and story._

**Yep, I do love writing this Tanjiro too. In time, other characters will have their changes, but for now he's the big outlier in a world that's still fairly close to canon.**

_ST0RMCROWN: __Nice. I like the chapter even though I'm super curious about Nezuko._

**I'm sure you are, and so are many others. Well, to be perfectly honest, you're all gonna have to be patient for another couple arcs. **

_megakdre100: __Nice chapter can't wait for what you going to do next_

**Hope this didn't disappoint.**

_DEMONEZUKO: __I love seeing people use the butterfly effect. It's always so cool to see what might happen if this happened instead of this._

_I really like the fight scene._

_Nice chapter! I can't wait to see how you will change the timeline._

**Thanks for the feedback, though I'd appreciate if you stuck it all to one single review next time rather than posting those separately, since it inflates the review number and doesn't let me accurately tell how many people are providing feedback. **

_Lieutenant Myst: __This time, I didn't read it on Ao3! Success! I never actually knew that white crows existed, but I like it how you showed that Tanjiro is unique through that scene and not only because he has learned the breath of Sun._

_Holding off on Nezuko's appearance makes me want to bite my nails, but I'll be patient and wait. God bless you!_

**Thanks. Like I said to another reviewer everyone's gonna have to be patient for Nezuko's return to the story, but its definitely coming. **

_Echonic: __Man, love this Tanjiro already. Nothing wrong with the canon Tanjiro though, just like how Tanjiro basically became Goblin slayer instead of Mister "I just wanna save my sister"._

**That's not a half-bad comparison actually. I mean, sure, Goblin-Slayer is FAR more singleminded as far as killing goblins go, but their dedication to their craft is comparable. **

_Deutzieg: __Nice update, genuinely surprised that there are less favorites and follows, hopefully with this update there will be more._

_Good job, as always._

_Ghosts are real in KnY, I wonder if Tanjiro knows that Yoriichi is actually a ghost, it's also makes sense that Yoriichi's ghost is present at Tanjiro's mountain considering he is Tanjiro's ancestor friend. Just like Urokodaki's students ghosts that stays at Urokodaki's mountain, it just fitting that Yoriichi's ghost stays at his friend home to watch over his descendant and help them._

_I forgot to say this, I really looking forward for the next chapter! Good work_

**Eh, that's almost but not quite how ghosts, specifically Yoriichi, are gonna work here. Good guess though. Plus 70 Favorites and 64 Followers as of me writing this seems like good feedback for only three chapters, definitely beat my bet by now. **

_Magicku: I__'m really interested how this story will go._  
_Keep up the good work!_

**Thanks, will try.**

**And that'll be that for today. Favorite, Follow and Review this as you like. After all, remember, feedback and support is what keeps me writting the Next Chapter. See y'all next time. Sky signing out. **


	5. Tanjiro's Hunt

Tanjiro Kamado found himself in a situation all too familiar to him.

It was dark, cold and the wind was blowing strongly on his face, which made traversing through the snowy forest difficult. Yet it was a path he knew by heart, having walked the half an hour pathway from his house in the mountain to the secluded forest clearing every night for over two years. As usual, he'd realize he was approaching it once he saw the faint lights in the distance, which grew and grew as he got closer, until they were discernable as thirteen lit ceremonial torches set in a circle around the clearing. In its middle stood the old man, wearing the same kimono and haori as he had the day Tanjiro met him, seemingly observing him with those blank eyes from under the marks on his forehead.

"So you've come…" Yoriichi noted, "I asked you to think about my proposal, do you have your answer?"

Tanjiro pursed his lips while trying to ignore the cold, neither the circle of torches nor his checkered haori doing much to protect him from the frigid nighttime wind, "…yes. I do."

"…I see. In that case…" Yoriichi raised his arm, holding something Tanjiro hadn't noticed before. A bokken, a wooden training blade shaped like a katana. The old man swung his arm, and the edgeless sword flew across the clearing, landing right in the middle of the circle and sinking tip first into the snow, "I have told you this before, Tanjiro, but among the many I've taught, you are unique. You might be starting from nothing, but your true potential is unmatched. Should you take this sword as your burden, I will teach you to use it. But it will be grueling. We have limited time, and thus the method I use in my training intends to force you to adapt and maximize said time. If you are prepared to go through that hell to avenge your family, then take up the blade before you."

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes somewhat hesitantly, but stepped forward towards the bokken, the voices of his dead family seeming to scream around him.

"_Why did you abandon us, Tanjiro..?_" He made out his siblings saying, specifically Takeo

"_You said you would protect us…_" Hanako sobbed out to him.

_"…that you would be there for us…_" Shigeru added.

_"…why did you lie, big brother?"_ And finally Rokuta, the youngest.

_"Where were you while we were all suffering?_" His mother would ask him coldly, "_Such a useless boy…you can't even be called my son._"

"_You left them all to die, Tanjiro…you couldn't even save your sister._" He could even hear his father, dead long before that fateful day, "_Do you really think you deserve to go on living after that?_"

Every step towards the bokken seemed harder and harder, his muscles stiff and aching, the wind growing stronger and colder. And yet, he persisted. For he was one with nothing left to lose. He had no other choice. There was nothing to look back to. The green and black checkered haori he donned seemed to fade into a crimson one and his tied up hair fell down to his shoulders, his hand taking a tight hold of the bokken, that in a moment had switched into an actual katana. He pulled it out of the snow, its blade red and steaming in the cold air.

Yoriichi narrowed his blank eyes, "So that is your decision…" He said, the torches around them being quickly put out one by one by the cold wind, "Be aware that the life you face ahead of you is filled with hardships, Tanjiro Kamado…you must never falter, never hesitate."

The last torch would go out, and the world would be once again consumed by cold and darkness, with only Tanjiro and his glowing red blade amidst it. That was when he would hear hurried footsteps behind him, even though he hadn't smelled anything, and quickly turn around, blade at the ready as a presence attacked him from the back. With a sift thrusting motion, he would impale the figure with his reddened blade, only to widen his eyes as, in the slight glow it produced, he would recognize the feral looking creature in a pink kimono glaring at him full of hate in its eyes.

"Nezu-" He tried to exclaim, but was cut off when, in his moment of shock, she swung her sharpened claws at him despite being impaled in his sword and tore his throat open.

* * *

Tanjiro opened his eyes quickly, but stood still as he observed the orange sunlight piercing through the leaves for a moment. Hesitantly, he raised a hand up to his neck, and looked down at it half-expecting to see a bloodied palm, "_Another dream…_" He sighed, sliding to the side and falling off the tree branch he'd been lying in, landing smoothly on the ground below. The sun was setting in the horizon above the small town that was just down the road from where he had fallen asleep in, making for a pleasing sight, not that he was much in the mood to enjoy it after that dream.

He'd been sent there by the Demon Slayer Corps through his Messenger Crow, apparently there were girls disappearing night after night without fail, and the Corps believed that might be due to demon activity. Tanjiro had arrived early in the morning and got some information about the disappearance from the locals. He'd been able to confirm by checking some of the locations where the disappeared girls were last seen that there was indeed the scent of a demon in the scene. With that in mind, he'd sleep for the rest of the afternoon in preparation to go hunting for the demon that night. Such a routine was only natural for a Demon Slayer, and had been one of the first things he'd been taught training to become one.

Stretching, Tanjiro would yawn slightly, and would begin making his way down the road to the town. Upon reaching it, he would stop to get some food before he started his patrol around the place, and by the time he moved on, the setting sun was already gone and night had fallen, thus beginning his work.

Demon Slayer work was not always the most interesting. Tanjirospent a lot of time just roaming around the town, sometimes trying to sniff out something, but mostly just waiting for any sign of the demon to appear. It was nearing midnight as he mediated atop a rooftop somewhere in the town, most of the streets emptied by then. That was when he opened his eyes suddenly, his nose catching a faint whiff of the same scent he'd felt on the location of the abductions.

He rose to his feet then, looking around briefly to determine where the smell was coming from before running off after it, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, trying to narrow down his target's position. He would eventually stop near the edge of town when he'd make out something else mixed with it. The smell of a human…specifically, a girl.

"Got you now…" He muttered, leaping down to the small emptied street, hand on the hilt of his blade as he focused on his sense of smell. Despite him neither hearing nor seeing anything out of the ordinary around him, there was no fooling Tanjiro's nose: the demon he was searching for was nearby. And that was when the smell grew stronger and he leapt away just as a hand rose from a dark puddle that formed in the ground and tried to grab his leg.

He would turn to face the the dark puddle then, hand already at the hilt of his sword. And soon enough, more than just a hand rose from it. Emerging from the dark puddle was the demon, its long hair dark blue and its eyes purely red, with a single horn emerging from its veiny forehead. This was the one Tanjiro had been searching for, evidenced by the unconscious young woman he held under his arm, his other clawed hand pointing at her throat, "Get back!" It warned him, pressing his sharp nails lightly against her neck, "Or I'll rip the girl's throat open!"

Tanjiro only narrowed his eyes before he moved, and in a moment separated the demon's hand from its arm before he could kill the girl, quickly sneaking his drawn sword in between her and it, aiming for decapitation, though that forced it to let go of her and jump away to avoid being killed. Tanjiro meanwhile, would take the girl before she could collapse to the ground and set her down gently, "So you're the one who's been kidnapping all the young women in this place…quite the feeding ground you found for yourself, isn't it?" He then glared at the demon imposingly, rising back to his feet, "Unfortunately for you, its all over now. Prepare to be slain by my blade."

The demon only grinned then, his maimed hand quickly regenerating, "You sure are cocky for such a human with a sword…you Demon Slayers don't scare me. Compared to Him you're all just bugs…" It said, causing Tanjiro's glare to intensify, "You should be thanking me, you know? Women are all the same…they reach their prime at sixteen, and after that they start spoiling quicker and quicker. At this rate she'll just become a nasty old hag, so why don't you hand her over and I'll spare your life."

The demon had to dive back in its puddle then as Tanjiro moved in and very narrowly decapitated it with a wide swing of his blade, "Go to hell." The swordsman said, anger evident in his eyes despite the mask of calmness over his face.

A laugh was heard moments later as the puddle reappeared a couple feet ahead of where it'd been then, the demon's head emerging from it, still grinning, "I thought you'd say that." It admitted, "Well, I guess I'll just have to kill you both. Never been much for eating guys, but I won't be letting all that meat go to waste…"

The demon descended back into the ground and Tanjiro backed away to cover the unconscious girl. He'd wait for a moment, ready to react once the demon rose, but even as the smell lingered around, it made no further moves. Thus he took the steps in securing the girl, picking her up and leaping up to a nearby rooftop, dropping her by there, out of the demon's reach, and coming back down.

He slowly stepped towards the middle of the empty road, focusing on it's smell as it grew stronger, before the demon burst upwards right behind him, swinging its claws at Tanjiro, who in turn raised his katana to block the slash with the blade's blunt side. It continued attacking the Demon Slayer relentlessly, mainly with its claws, pushing Tanjiro back and closer to the wall. The demon would manage to keep up its attack for a couple seconds, until the swordsman dodged and swung his blade upwards ready to decapitate it.

That was when another demon burst straight out of the wall beside them, this one looking exactly like the first one with the inclusion of two extra horns. The newly emerged triple-horned-demon swung its clawed hand at Tanjiro, but he was able to stop his slash and jump back at the last moment, receiving only a shallow cut in his chin in the process.

The first demon grinned at him, while the second just rose back to his feet glaring hatefully at the swordsman, its teeth gritting against one another loudly as it growled. "_Two demons…?_" He thought, blade still raised, before shaking his head, "_No…they have the same smell…it looks like this one has a Demon Blood Art that involves splitting himself up…how annoying._"

Both of them then rushed Tanjiro together, and he would move in to meet them. He dodged the triple-horned demon's dash first, and slashed off his leg with a swing of his blade, but was unable to finish it off due to the single-horned-demon attacking and forcing him to block. The now legless demon would growl and sink back into its puddle, while its twin pressed Tanjiro back with its attacks, giving it the chance to launch itself back towards the Demon Slayer as it burst from the ground, only for him to flip over the rocketing demon and letting it fly by, immediately following up by once again slashing off the single-horned-demon's arm when it tried to attack while he was still midair. Tanjiro would land and immediately seize his advantage by thrusting his katana at the armless demon's neck, only for the other one to burst form the ground again, its leg regenerated and its hand outstretched, managing to have the sword pierce through its palm and have it guided to the side so it would only graze the first one's neck. The triple-horned-demon then swung for Tanjiro while his blade was trapped in its other hand, but the boy managed to block the blow with the hilt of his katana and stumbled back before jumping to open space.

"Attacks like that won't work on us, Demon Slayer!" The triple-horned-demon said as the wound on its palm closed as well after Tanjiro retracted his thrust blade from it, the wound on the other one's neck and its maimed arm doing much of the same, "We'll just keep on regenerating and regenerating until we manage to kill you!"

"_These two can fight with perfect synchronicity, and cover for each other each time I try to decapitate one…annoying ability indeed._" He thought with a sigh, before realizing something, "_Hm…one has one horn, the other has three. Weird. You'd imagine there'd be one with…two…_"

Tanjiro looked off to the side suddenly and cursed as he saw a version of the same demon only with two horns emerging on the rooftop he'd left the unconscious girl in. He immediately rushed off and leapt towards the it, but had his jump cut short when the triple-horned one emerged from the ground and grabbed him by the ankle midair, gritting its teeth angrily. Tanjiro cut its arm off to escape its grip and used its head as a platform to flip himself back, giving him the needed air to reach the edge of the roof, but he quickly realized in midair while watching the demon looming over the girl that he wouldn't make it in time. So, in a desperate bid, he swung his arm, throwing his katana at the double-horned-demon.

The timing of his throw was not a second too late as the blade pierced tip first through the demon's outstretched forearm and made it hiss in pain, retracting its injuredarm and giving Tanjiro the needed time to land at the edge of the roof and dash towards it, immediately arriving with a knee to the face while tearing his sword back out of its arm, the momentum of his dash knocking the demon down and him to the other side of the roof, where he managed to roll and land back at the other edge with only a slight skid.

"You just can't let us alone to have our meals, can you…?!" The two-horned-demon asked him angrily as it got back up, easily snapping his jaw dislocated by Tanjiro's knee back in place. The swordsman wouldn't reply as he immediately dashed in again, already noticing the single-horned-demon emerging by the woman as well, giving him little time to recover. The double-horned one would try and delay him, jumping in with its arms raised ready to tear him apart with its claws, but Tanjiro only sliced at its midsection to momentarily crippled him and moved on, its single-horned twin already leaping off its puddle towards the girl.

Tanjiro would leap in as well, managing to get between it and its target and getting her off the immediate path of the attack, but the demon still grazed him as it flew by and ended up knocking both him and, consequently, the girl he was holding onto, off the rooftop and down to the street, Tanjiro landing back first while holding her unconcious form protectively.

The three demons would submerge together as the swordsman rose again groaning, holding onto his katana tightly. He stood protectively over the girl, breathing deeply. It was evident to him that the demons, now with their abilities fully revealed, would try and attack him together. Unless he intended to keep playing this cat and mouse game with them, the only way to do this was to decapitate all three at once. They weren't the only ones with tricks up their sleeves after all, and he intended to make that count.

Tanjiro closed his eyes, focusing entirely on his sense of smell once again. They all shared the same scent, but if the three of them were to emerge together, he would know it. Thus, he awaited, silently, patiently, for when they chose to make their move. Finally the smell hit him at the strongest and he opened his eyes just as three dark puddles formed around him, all three of the horned demons leaping in towards him all at once, intending to bring him down before he could even process what had happened. Unfortunately for them, he was well ahead of their plan, and with a deep inhale, his white blade burst into flames. "Breath of the Sun," He announced, "Second Dance: Crimson Horizon!"

With a powerful 360 degree spinning swing of his blade, Tanjiro would slash all three demons in the neck with his sword of flames, leaving behind a ring of fire surrounding him. That however was not to say he'd managed to kill them all. While two bodiless heads did hit the floor after his slash, the third one managed to back away in time and only received a flaming gash to its neck, which while damaging, was not enough to outright kill it.

The single-horned-demon would gasp, crawling back against the wall after having its throat ripped open. Determining that the threat was handled, Tanjiro approached it, pointing his blade at the demon's chest. "Its over." He told it, before pausing and, rather than just decapitating it unceremoniously, adding, "...this is your last chance to repent, I suggest you take it."

The single-horned-demon looked at him for a moment before chuckling weakly, "Oh, swordsman…" It murmured, "You don't know the first thing about demons, do you?"

Then, suddenly, it would rise, allowing the blade pointed at its chest to impale it and unexpectedly tackling Tanjiro. The swordsman cursed at himself then for lowering his guard momentarily as the demon dragged him down into its dark puddle, and the Demon Slayer would feel himself being enveloped in the cold embrace of water.

Tanjiro was being dragged down by the remaining demon into a world of muddy waters, various scattered items of clothing probably belonging to the girls this demon had long eaten like sandals and kimono floating around them, "Getting hard to breath, is it?" The demon asked smugly, its voice clear even underwater as its hands wrapped around Tanjiro's throat and squeezed while quickly swimming deeper and deeper. "You're in my swamp now, brat! I'm gonna enjoy devouring you and that girl once I finish drowning you!"

Having the grip around his neck tightened, Tajjiro could only curse at himself for his folly. He didn't know exactly why he even tried giving the demon a chance to atone for itself…well, he did actually. The dream with his sister was still fresh on his mind after all, leaving a reminder of the only time he'd ever tried seeing humanity in a demon. Right now though he could only try and focus on getting out of this swamp though, even though he wasn't getting much of a chance of getting back from the demon and ripping the sword off its chest as it continued gripping tightly onto his neck despite his struggle.

With him forced underwater for so long, and being strangled on top of that, Tanjiro was beginning to lose his breath quickly. Knowing he had little option, he gathered his remaining forces for one of his Breath Techniques, one of the few that could be used in his current situation anyway. Reversing his blade so it was facing upwards, he closed his eyes, ignoring his need for air or the demon gripping his neck, and only focused on putting as much power as he could in the following technique, "_Breath of the Sun, Fourth Dance…_" He chanted in his mind as his blade once again seemed to envelop in flames, "_Burning Sunrise!_"

Due to a lack of footing, the move showed only a shadow of its true potential, but it did its job regardless. With a sudden two handed upwards slash, Tanjiro would cut through the demon's chest and rip the blade free through its shoulder, forcing it to let go of the swordsman's neck. He would kick himself away from the demon using its wounded torso to rocket himself upward, and would swim as fast as it could, his muscles burning from his lack of oxygen. He would swim…and swim…and swim. Tanjiro's body screamed at him, but his will to survive prevailed, until he eventually saw the dark puddle that he emerged through and burst out from it.

Tanjiro would drag himself out of the swamp, coughing violently as he crawled into steady ground before regurgitating the dirty water he'd swallowed while down there. "…fuck…" he muttered, clenching his hand into a fist while panting heavily, "…fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" The swordsman exclaimed, punctuating every curse with a punch to the ground as he glared down angrily.

Because of his lack of caution around that swamp demon, Tanjiro had failed his duty as a Demon Slayer. If anyone now got hurt because of it, it would be his fault. This feeling of uselessness, of failure…it ate him up worse than anything else. "_No…I can still catch up, I can't let it go away!_" He told himself, attempting to rise back to his feet and give chase, only for his legs to fail, leading to him collapsing on a knee.

Breaths are what made Demon Slayers capable of combatting demons on the first place, but that by no means left them on an equal ground, as was evidenced by how quickly it had failed Tanjiro when he'd been dragged underwater. It at best made them comparable as far as physical prowess goes, but it did nothing to a demon's regeneration nor its Blood Arts. When a Demon Slayer encountered a demon, there were dozens of ways the latter could emerge victorious, from outright killing the Slayer, to killing an innocent passerby or just escaping altogether. For a Demon Slayer however, the only way to emerge victorious was the confirmed kill of the demon and no further casualties. Nothing more, nothing less.

"_When fighting a demon, you'll always be at a disadvantage, no matter how weak it is. That is why you must always swing for the neck. For a Demon Slayer, the perfect victory is one achieved with a single quick decisive blow."_

One of his master's many teachings repeated itself in his head, one he had just blatantly failed in applying against that demon. Out of all his teachings though, this was one he never really liked much. Perhaps due to the memory of his sister being decapitated in much the same manner. It was, after all, the most marking moment in a day he knew he would never forget. The feeling of uselessness and failure had seemingly brought those memories to forefront, even though they constantly lurked in the back of his head.

"_Useless…_" Tanjiro told himself, looking down in frustration, "_You're just useless…!_"

"Uh…excuse me." A voice suddenly called out, and the Demon Slayer would look up to see a girl in a purplish-red kimono with white stripes and flowing hair. He quickly recognized her as the girl that had been kidnapped by the demon, "My name is Satoko." She introduced herself, "Are you…are you the one who saved me from that monster…?"

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes then, and took a deep breath, "…_I guess it wasn't all in vain._" He thought, rising up somewhat shakily, "Yeah…that's me." He admitted, sheathing away his katana, "Come on, I'll escort you back home."

* * *

Hours later, the Swamp Demon would emerge from his swamp in an enclosed part of the forest, where the light of sunrise couldn't pierce through the thick foliage of the trees, allowing him to roam around without the fear of getting hurt by the sunlight. The wounds he'd received from the Demon Slayer in the red haori had by then healed, but it would still take some time for his four other horns to reemerge, allowing himself to split again.

"How dare he…?!" He murmured angrily, dragging himself up and out of his puddle, "That Demon Slayer…he thinks he can just walk into my feeding ground and cut down my copies…I'll rip that fucker apart!" He punched a nearby tree to let out his anger, causing it to shake slightly. The fact that he'd been so close to his meal made it all the worse. He'd even taken the girl's hairpin and added it to his collection already…

His outrage was interrupted when the Swamp Demon heard the nearby sound of a bell, followed by a mischevous giggle, "Who's there?!" He turned around, ready to attack regardless of who it was, only for a grinning girl to emerge from behind a nearby tree. This girl had black hair short of reaching her shoulder with orange tips, with catlike hazel eyes and an orange kimono. In her hand, she was bouncing an ornate ball up and down. A temari, as the Swamp Demon faintly recognized from his human childhood.

"Would you look at that?' The temari demon said, her grin ever present, "The little demon is angry that he couldn't kill the Demon Slayer…how amusing, isn't it?"

"If truth be told, he should be happy he escaped alive." A male voice then added as another demon emerged from behind a tree, this one with black hair, closed eyes and a yellow kimono, "This one was strong enough to slay a former Demon Moon after all."

"Who…who are you two?" The Swamp Demon inquired with visible nervousness. He could tell at a glance that either of these demons, humanoid as they might seem, were both individually far stronger than himself even in his best day, let alone in his current state.

"We're assassins, sent by that Man himself to deal with the swordsman donning the hanafuda earrings." The female one explained, to which the Swamp Demon froze. These two had been sent by…Him? After THAT guy?! Why was He, so above their petty concerns, targeting a low ranked Demon Slayer like that one….?

"I believe you're already familiar with him no?" The male asked, though his presence there answered the question by itself already, "Your fight proved a great beacon for us to track him down. Tonight we'll be finally able to move and eliminate that Demon Slayer once and for all."

The Swamp Demon nodded tensely, "Of course…anything to help the Great One, after all…"

The temari demon's grin widened then, as she finally stopped bouncing the ball in her hand up and down, taking hold of it, "Well, that's the thing…" She said, raising the ball to eye level, "What use does the Great One have for a demon who cannot even eliminate his enemies? You…" she drew back her arm, now pulsing with muscle tissue, before swinging it and throwing the ball at him, "…are but a waste of His blood!"

The Swamp Demon widened his eyes, and raised his hands defensively as to try and block the incoming ball, unable to dodge it with its immense speed, only to have his left arm blown clean off as if he'd tried to block a cannonball barehandedly. He stumbled back as the ball bounced from trunk to trunk before returning to the girl's hand.

Knowing he was completely outclassed, the Swamp Demon created one of his puddles and tried to dive for it, only for the male demon to smirk, "Not so fast, now…" He raised his hand, revealing the eye hidden in his palm, a single upward arrow for its iris. With a blink of that eye, The Swamp Demon was suddenly dragged away from diving his puddle while still midair by an invisible force. He was sent sprawling across the ground, confused as to what had happened, but would have little time to react as the arrow demon raised his hand, "Your collaboration is appreciated. Now, goodbye." He then made a short, upwards motion with his index and middle fingers.

In response, the invisible force would then start dragging the Swamp Demon further and further up, through the branches and foliage of the trees and finally up above the treetops, leaving him vulnerable to the morning sunlight and quickly beginning to burn away at him. He screamed out in pain, but could do very little as his body quickly faded into ash, the numerous hairpins from the girls he'd eaten falling from the inside of his shirt and down to the floor, the collection of ash-dirtied ornaments being the only remnant left of the demon's existence as he burned away.

* * *

Tanjiro walked through the streets of the small village once again, rethreading his patrol from the previous night. After his scuffle with the demon, he'd accompany the kidnapped girl back to her house, greeted there by her grateful fiancee. They had given him a soft futon and a warm meal, facilitating the extra time he spent in the village by quite a bit. He had by then decided to spend another night there and see if the demon would return to its feeding grounds or whether it would flee in fear. His instincts were telling him it was the former, but the only way to really make sure was to wait and see what would happen. Should the demon be really gone, he would then focus his efforts on hunting it down.

Roaming the empty streets in the early hours of the morning, he found himself in the merchant's district, surrounded by closed shops at either side of the deserted road. At this point, he was beginning to doubt his instincts as, try as he might, he found himself still unable to get a single whiff of the demon's scent. Sighing, he stopped to look up at the crescent moon high above for a moment, worriedly wondering if the demon had long left the town, and was ny now somewhere else far away, devouring an innocent human to regain its strength all because of his failure. Then, the wind would shift directions, blowing a soft breeze at Tanjiro, and his eyes went wide as he immediately ducked, a round object flying overhead only a moment later. He would watch as the projectile crashed right into a small tea ship nearby, damaging its structure and causing the building to loudly collapse on itself. Cautiously, Tanjiro turned around to face the two demons he already knew awaited him at the end of the road.

One was a grinning girl, having black hair with orange tips that reminded Tanjiro of a paintbrush, a temari being bounced back and forth off the ground in her hand. The other one seemed more stoic, a black haired boy with closed eyes and an orange kimono. Despite their human looks, Tanjiro could feel a bead of cold sweat running down from his temple. From smell alone he could tell that they were both stronger than the swamp demon he'd been hunting. In fact, had the wind not shifted to direct their scent to him, that surprise attack would've probably claimed his head.

"My, what fast reflexes!" The temari demon exclaimed, "This one should be fun to play with, don't you think so, Yahaba?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself now, Susamaru." The other demon, apparently Yahaba, replied, "We must focus on finishing him quickly. You wouldn't want to anger Master by letting him run off, now would you?"

The temari demon, Susamaru, seemed bothered by that idea as the grin faded from her face as she turned to glare at her partner, "Don't be ridiculous. Fast or not, he's still just a human. I bet you were only sent along to make tracking him down easier." She turned back to Tanjiro then, "You can stand back and let me handle this. We'll be done in no time."

Yahaba sighed in slight exasperation, "If you so insist…"

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes as he entered a stance, one hand gripping his scabbard as the other one took ahold of his katana's hilt. "I was looking for a different demon…" He admitted, "But now that I've got you two here, its not something I can so easily ignore."

"You must be referring to the one that had been using this village as its feeding grounds." Susamaru said, a smirk returning to her face, "You don't have to worry about him, we've taken care of that weakling already. Wouldn't want something else distracting you from the two of us…"

Hearing that, Tanjiro shoulders relaxed ever so slightly, a burden removed from him now that he knew the demon he'd failed to slay had been handled by someone else without another human having to die. Not that he could really afford himself to relax much given the situation… "You two were sent by Muzan Kibutsuji to put me down then, weren't you?" He deduced, "That's good. Just means he's afraid."

"Bite your tongue, filthy human!" Yahaba immediately lashed out, riled up by Tanjiro's words, "You aren't even worthy to say our Master's name, let alone make those empty threats!"

Susamaru would only grin widely, though anger was very evident in its murderous glare, "Blasphemous brat…" She chuckled menancingly, "Ah, what fun it'll be, breaking every bone on your body…"

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes as he drew his blade fully, "I'm waiting."

"Make the insect hurt, Susamaru!" Yahaba growled out, "Or else I might just tear him apart myself."

"Oh, don't worry…." Susamaru said in sing-song, murderous grin still there as she drew back her hand to fling one of her temari at Tanjiro "I will!"

* * *

Elsewhere in the village, the loud sound of a building collapsing would wake up many people and cause a small ruckus, though most of all it caught the interest of a lone figure walking across another deserted street. Hearing the crashing sound from the distance, she narrowed her eyes before leaping over to a nearby rooftop to try and get an idea of what that was, and was met with the sight of a cloud of dust raised into the air from a collapsing building. She had come there after receiving a notice from her messenger crow, of the local demon who seemed to be hunting sixteen year old girls in the village. Fitting such a description, it was only natural that she was sent off to serve as bait for the demon. Unfortunately, bad weather had delayed her arrival and set her back a day, but now she was there.

When she reached the village and begun roaming in search of her target, she honestly wasn't expecting to get any results so quickly. As her sister had many a time told her after all, Demon Slaying can be a slow, boring job sometimes, but it was okay. She was patient. Indifferent even. But as she stood there, her tied hair and white cloak fluttering about slightly with the wind, Kanao Tsuyuri knew already that this might not take as long as she initially thought.

**A/N: So here we have another case of "split-in-halfitis". This and chapter 6 were to ideally be one and the same, probably a very damn long chapter. That is no longer the case, and this time its actually less of me being forced to split it in two, and more so me wanting the proper space next chapter to write what I want to write without thinking, "Man, this is getting way too long." Thus the kind of improvised chapter name, though it isn't completely unfitting since its Tanjiro's first POV since Chapter 1. **

**Plus, that IS what this chapter is really about, and also why I don't feel as guilty to separate it in two. Its about this story's Tanjiro. We get a small look into the beginning of his training with Yoriichi, (even though its mixed in with a dream sequence) then into his regrets and defects. He might be stronger than Canon Tanjiro at this point, but Canon Tanjiro more than makes up for it since Nezuko's got his back, while Fanfic Tanjiro is mostly by himself. While beating Kyogai or the Hand Demon was far easier here, situations where he would otherwise have Nezuko with him are harder for him. Especially in this case, in which he has someone to protect aside from fighting the demon. All that said, I like to think that, with this chapter, I finally managed to round up my Tanjiro's character and prove him more than a gary stu wearing the skin of a canon character.**

**Well, what else? Oh, one thing to note. Normally, when writting demons from Demon Slayers' perspective, I like to refer them by 'it' rather than 'he/she', since it shows how inhuman they are in the Slayer's POV. This chapter, writting Yahaba and Susamaru like that from that perspective felt unnatural, maybe because they are the first demons with names I'm writting from someone else's POV aside from Nezuko. That said, I'll just go for the normal he/she with them, otherwise it just feels weird to me. Im saying this beforehand since next chapter will have plenty of them as we get into a two on two between Susamaru and Yahaba versus Tanjiro and Kanao. Minor spoilers, not that anyone didn't see that coming.**

**Thanks to DownwardDive, even though at one point he did try to convince me to make Murata a main character...yeah, that's not a can of worms I'm keen of opening. **

**Anyway, onto the reviews. **

_Silver III Jhin: I didn't read the apperance well, but do Tanjiro tie his hair in a ponytail like Yoriichi?_

**No. He is dressed very similar to Yoriichi, but his hair here would be longer, styled about the same as to how it was when he defeated Sabito and split that boulder in canon.**

_rjconanan333: __This is a very good story! Keep up the good work man! :)_

**Yeah, thanks, I'll try. **

_Guest: Awesome chapter, I can't wait to know what is going to happen next. And when is gonna appear Kanao again?_

**What a conveniant question leading into this chapter's cliffhanger. You must be proud. **

_Lieutenant Myst: __I had thought for a second when Muzan summoned his demons to take care of Tanjirou, one of them was Nezuko; and then I remembered the two demons are those who come in episode eight and my hopes got slightly crushed._

**Everyone is waiting on Nezuko...I guess thats only natural for what's supposed to be the series' deuteragonist. Its a Sasuke-ish situation though, I'm intent on holding off showing her post timeskip until the time is right.**

_Guest: This story is amazing! I can't wait to see what you have stored for us next!_

**Thanks, hope you liked the chapter. **

_ST0RMCROWN: __Nice update. Can't wait to seee what happens next._

_(ﾟﾟ) don't cry zenitsu_

**Thanks. That really was a bit of a downer note to end the chapter on, I guess.**

_DEMONEZUKO: demons: tanjiro OP plz nerf_

_Poor Zenitsu, he's so insecure of himself._

_Nice chapter :)_

**Both really are, but for the former, this chapter is meant to show the current limitations of his powers. Stronger as he might be, Tanjiro is still not above committing mistakes or needing help. As for Zenitsu...well, he'll be getting his time of day in the next few chapters.**

_Roman1987: __I love the story so far but it's really sad that you kinda took away Tanjiro's immense kindness that he gives even to demons, I mean I understand since he lost his whole family and he no longer has an anchor for his mentality anymore, it's just a sad thing to see in. A character who we all first think is "kind, he's a very kind person", so i really hope when we see the chao for when we meets zenitsu we will see some of that kindness again!_

**Tanjiro here is not fully devoid of kindness, but he is far less merciful in his approach to demon slaying than his canon counterpart. There are echoes in this him of what he could've been though. His failed attempt to get the Swamp Demon to repent to some extent is the greatest show of that so far in this story, even if he himself would consider that a moment of weakness.**

_mr pink hair: __Man, this was a great chapter._  
_This chapter made think a few things like: If tanjiro knows that muzan has a mental link to the demons he creates, how much more he knows? Does he knows that he can't be killed by cutting his head?_  
_The head thing and the fact that he doesn't know nezuko is alive makes me wonder that if he really knows about it the head thing, will he still ask tamayo for a medicine to turn demons into humans? Will he even meet tamayo?_  
_Man, I can't wait for the next chapters, this story is just that good. Keep going man, it's very hard to see something that well written._  
_(if you actually read it all, thank you and congrats, you really have a lot of patience)_

**Well, Tanjiro was taught here by the all-time greatest Demon Slayer as you saw a bit at the start of this chapter, so he has a lot of general knowledge of demons and Muzan himself. Him having some mental link of sorts with demons doesn't seem that big a secret since technically any demon should know that much, like the Swamp Demon in Canon being told Muzan was always watching. That is not to say they all know the full extent of this link, as even the Lower Moons had no idea Muzan could read their thoughts. That said, its not impossible for one to have fessed up something in the face of certain death, especially in the face of someone like Yoriichi. Now, about Muzan's personal secrets like the decapitation one, that's a bit more complicated. Honestly, its not something even I can say yet. I expect the manga's next chapter to reveal as much, seeing as this week's left off with the cliffhanger of their fateful meeting. I can totally see Yoriichi cutting off Muzan's head and discovering as much, and if it were up to me it would totally play out that way, but I'm waiting for what the author himself wants to show. **

**Other than that, I'm grateful for the motivating words, you guys really don't know how much that means to me. **

_Ztassassin555: Faster updates T-T_

**To be perfectly honest, this review annoyed me. Instead of praise or even some honest criticism, you just say..."more". Well, you're gonna have to be satisfied with what it is. These take long to write, especially while balancing work, family and everything else life decides to throw at me. I cannot promise anything more than the current semi-schedule of posting only once a week, and even that is hardly set in stone. **

_Arkham Knight: Tanjiro challenges Muzan directly along with the other moons. That is some confidence. Wonder how the others pillars will react to him. Good chapter._

**Thanks, Tanjiro is extra ballsy in this story. Unfortunately, as this chapter has started showing, that confidence alone will only get him so far when we begins dealing with the stronger demons.**

**So, that's it for today. Though one last thing before I go. Last chapter didn't have much in the way of Favorites and Follows to be honest, seeing as the average per chapter was about twenty, and last chapter got me a bit over ten. I didn't mind though. Why? Because as you just saw above, I got a heck load of Reviews. Which is when I realised why Reviews are so important. If you've already favorited or followed this story, there is nothing you can do for me to show me that you liked what you just read, that is other than leaving a Review behind. A simple "good job" would be cool, but it doesn't leave me much to reply to at the end of every chapter. More than that I really appreciate when people mention their thoughts or what left the biggest impression on them from a chapter, give me something to reply to, however short it is.**

**So yeah, favorites and follows are cool, but if you did that already, a review wouldn't hurt. The detailed ones are what really motivate me more than anything to keep typing and posting these in a semi-schedule, kind of like I mentioned to mr pink hair when responding to the above reviews.**

**Well, anyway, that is now really it. Expect next chapter to be coming somewhat sooner since I already started it. Still, supporting the story won't hurt. Sky signing out. **


	6. The Demon Assassins

Tanjiro Kamado stood in the middle of the empty road, facing the two demons before him, blade raised and eyes narrowed. First, there was Yahaba, the one with the closed eyes and the orange haori, while the one who stood before him was Susamaru, the girl with the paintbrush-like hair and a temari ball in her hand. She'd just drawn back her arm in preparation to throw the projectile at him, her muscles bulging before she sent the ball flying, followed quickly by manifesting another one in her free hand and quickly tossing that at him as well.

Focused on the projectiles, Tanjiro sidestepped the first one and decided to try and cut through the second one with a horizontal slash, only for it to bounce off his blade, knocking his sword off to the side and leaving him open for the first temari, which bounced off a wall and returned to him. Tanjiro in turn only dodged that due to putting use to his momentum and side-flipping to evade the ball.

Susamaru meanwhile raised her hand to catch the temari that nearly hit him while donning a shit-eating grin. "Look at that, the little Demon Slayer can't even cut through a children's toy." She mocked him, "I knew him killing a former Demon Moon was dumb luck…" With the ring of a bell, another temari would then form in her free hand, "Now let's see how long you last before I break you, okay?!"

She threw the two balls again, and Tanjiro would narrow his eyes, watching both attacks closely. He leaned back further and further to dodge the first attack, letting it fly right overhead once again, this time though with the intention to observe it closely, "_…so that's what it is…_" He planted his free hand on the ground, using it as support to backflip to his feet as the first ball passed him by, thus recovering in time to face the second one, "_Watch for the angle of its rotation…and swing your sword against it!_" He brought down his blade then, and easily cut through the temari, its rotation aiding his blade in the slicing process rather than hindering it this time.

With that figures, he would quickly spin around in time to meet the first temai as it bounced back to him and slash it apart with a horizontal swing, both cut balls fading into nothing before they could even bounce off the ground again. He then turned to look at Susamaru, raising an eyebrow as if asking 'is that all?', to which the demon snarled, "So the monkey can learn, huh? Big deal!" Two more temari formed in her hands, "Let's put that bravado to test!" She threw the two, before forming another pair and also tossing them before doing so a third time as well.

Tanjiro though breathed in deeply, focusing intently as he gripped his blade as the first temari reached him. One by one, with a series of precise swings, he cut down ball after ball, always slicing against its rotation. All six were sliced in half and faded away, while Tanjiro stood there, twirling his sword as his lips twisted into a small smirk, "What was all that about 'breaking me' again…?"

Susumaru glared at him from behind her grin, as Yahaba behind her only frowned slightly, "You brat…you think a few lucky swings make you hot shit " She snarled, removing the top of her kimono then, leaving herself only in a black undershirt, "Fine then! Enough with fooling around!" Clenching her fists, suddenly four more arms would burst from the demon's torso then, leaving her with three at each side, each of them manifesting a temari in their palms, "From now on, I'm throwing to kill!"

Deeply inhaling again, Tanjiro stepped forward, preparing to move in for the kill himself, "Breath of the Sun," he murmured to himself, "First Dance: Waltz." His white blade burst with bright flames just as Susamaru cocked her arm back to toss in the first temari, and Tanjiro would dash forward. He didn't focus on striking the incoming balls against their angle of rotation this time, as the moment his blade even grazed it, fire would consume the temari and burn it away in moments, his Breath style nullifying the demon's Blood Art much to her chagrin.

The first two balls would come at him rather straightforwardly, being both cut and burned away completely unceremoniously. The next two were sent at Tanjiro in quick succession, aiming to catch him off guard, only he slashed both of them with a single fiery swing. With only two temari left and a Demon Slayer quickly approaching, Susamaru nervously tried for a trick shot, flinging the temari so it would bounce from wall to wall and strike Tanjiro on the side, only for him to see this coming and leap directly over it, the very tip of his blade being stretched out to graze the ball and set it aflame as well. He then landed before her with a flip.

He was close though, which was in a way both a blessing and a curse. Susamaru already had her last Temari at the ready to throw, and at this distance, he wouldn't be able to get a proper swing to cut through it. Dodging it would be hard too, due to its sheer speed. That only left him one option, and when the demon threw in her last temari, he rushed in and thrust his blade forward, the tip piercing right through the ball and setting it aflame, turning it to ash before the sword even reach Susamaru's shoulder,impaling the demon through it.

Tanjiro had switched his blade to a diagonal angle before it stabbed into the demon, intent on pulling his blade to the side and, with one swung, fully decapitating the first of his two targets. For a moment he thought this might not be as hard as he thought it would be, and he watched the panic in Susamaru as he began swinging the flame covered katana to decapitate her, only for his delusion to be cut short as Yahaba raised his palm, revealing the eyeball on it.

"That's enough." He said as the eye in his hand blinked, and just as he went for the kill, an invisible force would drag Tanjiro back violently. He hit a wall and bounced off the ground before coming to a stop, further away from the two demons than he even started in, the flames in his sword fading as his concentration was broken.

"_What…what was that…?_" The Demon Slayer groaned, rising somewhat groggily, "_He just raised his hand…and I was thrown back._" He looked over at the second demon, "_What exactly IS his Blood Art…?_"

"I think that's enough playing around now, Susamaru." Yahaba told his partner as she covered the closing wound on her shoulder with one of her hands while glaring at the Demon Slayer, "I can see now why Master wanted us to eliminate this human. We must combine our techniques and prioritize his eradication."

"Yeah…this one is trouble." Susamaru admitted with a slightly pained groan, "Those flames of his are somehow slowing down my regeneration. We can't let him get too close again…" She raised one of her arms in the uninjured side and a temari would appear in her palm with the ring of a bell, "Not to say I'm ready to give up my fun yet, though. The fact that he managed to stab me just makes me want to kill him even more slowly…"

"…fine, I suppose that's good enough." Yahaba sighed then, raising his hand as well, the eye on his palm wide open. Susamaru threw in the ball at Tanjiro full force, just as the eye blinked, and Tanjiro would note that the ball would get just a bit faster as it did so.

"_Can he repel objects? Push them back? Is that what he used to get me away and make the temari faster?_" He shook his head, raising his katana in preparation to slice the projectile, "_It doesn't matter. Relying on empty guessing now will only get you killed. Just swing for the ball and be prepared for anything._"

So that's what he did, reading the temari's rotation and bringing down his sword to slash it. Except, rather than connecting as it had done every other time, the ball instead swerved just slightly to the left at the last moment, escaping the edge of his blade and moving to hit his arm with enough force to leave him short of that limb. He widened his eyes though, and moved to the side at the last moment, receiving only a graze on his on the upper end of his arm, though nonetheless a fairly deep one.

The temari would fly past him, but rather than following a straight path, it would do an arc in midair, as if controlled by an invisible force, and return aiming to strike him right in between his shoulder blades. Tanjiro turned in time though, and managed to cut it down before it could reach him, "_He's not just repelling it…_" He realized then, grunting as he felt blood dripping down the wound in his left arm. "_He's controlling its trajectory somehow._" Breathing deeply, he turned to look at the two demons then, just as Susamaru produced three more Temari in her hands, "_I can see why they were sent out together…these two's techniques definitely make for the worst possible combo._"

"He really IS fast." Susamaru remarked with a small smirk, "Didn't think he'd be able cut that one down…lets take this up a notch again!" Three temari then appeared in her palms, while Yahaba turned as if looking at her briefly despite his closed eyes, wearing a scowl on his face. Nonetheless, he turned back twice the Demon Sayer before them, and raised both his palms, the eyes in them opening as the arrows in their pale-orange irises shifted around. The temari were thrown in quick succession, while Yahaba's eyes each blinked twice

Tanjiro on the other hand closed his eyes for a deep moment and focused through the pain from his wound. This was probably his toughest fight so far, and he knew that. Should he make the slightest mistake now, it would cost him his life. But that was what he 'd trained so long and so relentlessly under his master for, as well as the breathing techniques he'd learned.

He started taking a shallow breaths to reinforce the muscles around his injury and greatly diminish the bleeding. With his wound remedied for time being, he waited for the right moment. His breath grew deeper as he tightened his grip on the katana and shifted his stance, "Breath of the Sun, Fourth Dance," He chanted, "Burning Sunrise Triple!"

He swung his katana in an upwards arc much like he'd done against the swamp demons as it edge was engulfed in flames, except this time not only was he able to perform the technique properly due to not being underwater where he had no footing, but used a stronger variation of the technique where he used the momentum of his upwards swing to repeat the process twice over, one from his left and one from his right, creating three intersecting arches of fire before him.

This though only managed to burn up two of the temari, as Yahaba had one suddenly change course as it moved over Tanjiro and his blade and took a dive aiming to hit one of his legs. The Demon Slayer was able to leap in and dodge at the last moment, spinning sideways midair and giving himself the momentum needed to catch the ball once it arched again and flew at him, slashing through the ball as well with his white blade.

With the threat of the temari handled, Tanjiro would stand there for a moment, panting. The Breath of the Sun was unquestionably powerful, but it was also draining to its user. And using such a strong technique after his earlier Waltz had taken quite a bit off him. Nonetheless, he moved to dash in at the demons before they could unleash another attack upon him, only for Yahaba to suddenly smirk as the Demon Slayer was swiped off to the side by an invisible force, crashing roughly against the wall of a nearby house.

"What?!" Susamaru exclaimed angrily, turning to her partner, "Yahaba, I told you I'd get to finish this one off, you can't just go stealing my kills like this!"

"You were taking too long to finish him. I'm not one to take risks." Yahaba told her, raising his hand, "Besides, you can't still be the one to throw in a final blow….I just made him an easier target, that's all."

"_Damn it…its that one's power…_" Tanjiro grunted, struggling to rise, "_How can I possibly dodge something I can't even see…?_"

Seeing that though, Yahaba would snarl, "Oh, no you don't." The arrow iris on his palm rotated, and Tanjiro would begin being skyward by the invisible force, "C'mon, Susamaru, take him out now!"

"Fine, fine…you're so impatient." She grumbled, producing another temari as the Demon Slayer was dragged up high, "I'll just hurry up and kill him then." She cocked her middle left arm back, buffing it up before swinging it to throw the ball at the entrapped Tanjiro to meet his upwards trajectory, who in turn only looked nervously at what he was being dragged towards, and could only raise his blade, prepared to use another Breath of the Sun technique to get rid of the ball despite already being drained by the two previous instances, but he was interrupted by doing so when he was distracted by an unexpected smell.

"_Why…why do I smell…flowers?_" He wondered momentarily, before he caught a black and white blur in the corner of his vision, and next he knew, Yahaba's outstretched hand had been lopped off at the wrist. He felt the invisible force tugging at him disappearing, dropping him while he was midair and causing the temari to miss. He'd begin to fall to the groundl, but would manage to land on one of the rooftops and roll to diminish his impact, before falling down the roof and to the ground somewhat roughly. Once he'd regained his bearings, he would look up and notice he was standing a good distance away from the demons, and they were looking at surprise, but not at him, rather at something next to him. Curious, Tanjiro would turn to look as well, and widened his eyes as he found the source to the scent of flowers.

Standing beside him was a girl just about his own age, with black hair fading to pink at the tips tied by a green butterfly ornament. She had a short and seemingly delicate physique, but Tanjiro knew better. From the dark uniform she wore under a white cloak or the pink nichirin blade she held before her, it was easy to identify the girl as a Demon Slayer.

"Can you stand?" She asked him calmly facing the demons with her katana raised.

Tanjiro paused, but nodded as he grunted while standing up beside the girl, observing her keenly. Regardless, since it was obvious she was on his side after she'd saved him by maiming Yahaba, he decided to waste no time and just share with her what he knew so she wouldn't be caught off guard. "…the female demon can produce those balls and use them as projectiles. They can bounce around and have enough strength to blast right through you, so be careful. The male one has some ability that allows him to control the trajectory of things every time he blinks the eyes on his hands. He can apparently, combine that with the first one's temari, but there's no way to predict their trajectory."

The girl raised an eyebrow at that though, "Does that mean you cannot see the arrows?"

Tanjiro blinked, "Arrows?"

"That demon is creating arrow projectiles and controlling their direction with those eyes. He can seemingly attach those to objects and people, like he did with you, or those temari." She said, leaving Tanjiro somewhat confused. If what this girl was saying was true, then how come he couldn't see these arrows she was talking about…?

One look at Yahaba though and he knew this wasn't an empty guess on her part, "This girl…where did she come from…?" He asked, angered and confused as his maimed hand regenerated, "She can somehow perceive my kotetsu arrows…"

"It doesn't matter, we'll just blow her apart all the same," Susamaru announced impatiently, forming two more balls, one on each middle hand, and tossing them both towards the two Demon Slayers in one go. Tanjiro raised his blade, ready to defend himself, only for the girl to step past him, raising her hand as if silently asking to 'leave this to her'. She raised her katana with a single hand, and as the temari approached, she'd narrow her eyes before, with two swift swings from right to left and left to right, easily slicing apart the two balls without the slightest difficulty.

Seeing that demonstration, Tanjiro could only blink in surprise, "_She's good…"_

Susamaru meanwhile backed up, surprised herself at how easily the girl had dealt with her temari, easier still than the boy did. Yahaba meanwhile only scowled angrily, "Susamaru, these two…"

"Yes, yes, I know!" The temari demon growled irritatedly as she raised all her hands, and a remark formed in each of them, "They are definitely trouble! We gotta get rid of them before they get another chance."

"Glad to see we're on the same page for once." He admitted, raising both his palms and the eyes in them.

Tanjiro stood beside the girl silently, both breathing in with their blades raised while both the demons standing across from them had their hands raised ready to use their Blood Demon Arts at the first movement. The two parties seemed locked in a standoff, waiting for the first sign of movement. The stalemate seemed to last longer than the few seconds it actually did, building tension until it was near unbearable. Which was exactly when Susamaru grinned, swinging her arms to start sending her temari flying while Yahaba's eyes blinked multiple times, responded by the girl dashing the moment she did so, Tanjiro following close behind. And thus chaos broke out again.

* * *

Kanao Tsuyuri had made her movement the moment she saw the temari demon, Susamaru from what she'd heard, dragged her arm back ready to let loose one of her deadly temari, followed by the arrow demon behind her, Yahaba, blinking his eyes and producing the same red arrows that she'd seen before, which raced in and pierced through the temari, taking control of its momentum and trajectory. It zig-zagged across the air, trying to create a pattern she couldn't predict, but with the arrow there, it made its changes in direction obvious to her. It would try and catch her in the head from the side, but her blade was there to intercept it, slashing against its momentum to cut through the ball with the utmost ease.

These two had tricky abilities, and against a normal Demon Slayer, might make for a near-impossible fight to beat. But she was no average Demon Slayer, she was a Tsuguko, trained by one of the Pillars themselves. It was nothing she felt prideful about if she even felt anything about it at all, but there was a sense of obligation that came with that title. Not to mention, her sense of sight had always been different since she'd been young, able to perceive things the normal human eye would usually miss. With her training, that natural advantage had only been heightened even further, to the point where sensing the rotation of the temari so to optimize her slashes or seeing those kotetsu arrows posed little issue. Oh, and there was also the fact that she wasn't alone. The other Demon Slayer, the boy in red. She'd taken note of him back in the Final Selection, but while he seemed far stronger than your usual Mizunoto, she still didn't see him as much of anything special. Somehow though, he'd gotten himself in a situation against demons far more powerful than the one she was hunting, so it was her duty as a fellow Demon Slayer to aide him in their eradication.

Three more temari were sent then in quick succession, all taken and redirected by those red arrows produced by Yahaba. Her purple eyes darted from left to right and back, calmly following the trajectory of the temari as she went before leaping at the right moment to flip in between the three projectiles while swinging her blade to cut the bottom one down. Those, though, arched over and redirected themselves to her back as she landed, while two more arrow controlled temari were thrown at her by the two demons. For a moment, Kanao would find herself surrounded by the deadly projectiles all around her, but before she could even figure out how to deal with those, the boy would jump in, slashing one of the ones at her back during the brief moment it stopped midair to take a sharp turn. If nothing else, she had to admit he was perceptive to pick up on something like that. It was probably how he'd managed to survive against these two for so long before she arrived.

Landing beside her, the two would alternate in cutting down the remaining temari. That including him ducking so she could slice down a temari headed for his head, her sidestepping when he brought down his blade to cut one aiming for her head and, lastly, her planting a hand on his shoulder and using it as leverage to flip herself over him and slice down the last of the temari. Not only was he perceptive, it seemed, but he'd managed to read her movements and react near perfectly. She was now beginning to wonder if the boy really had more to offer than she'd initially gave him credit for.

ThedDemons however wasted little time while their opponents moved around their attacks, and Susamaru manifested six more temari, bouncing them off the ground and high into the sky two at a time. Once they were all sky high, she'd form six more and fling them all at the Demon Slayers while Yahaba used his arrows to take control of the falling temari, creating a barrage of twelve deadly projectiles, six of them having their trajectory manipulated by Yahaba's arrows. Seeing that, Kanao widened her eyes slightly, and pushed back her ally, giving her the space to take a deep breath and utilize one of her techniques

"Breath of Flower, Second Form," She called out, getting into a stance. "Plum Spirit." Kanao then began a series of defensive sword swings, still careful not to harm the boy now standing behind her. While this managed to defend her from a few of the temari though, she would quickly notice that the barrage of attacks was far too big for her technique alone to uncover. She'd grit her teeth, trying to extend its length, but would only eliminate five of the temari thrown at her before she was forced to lower her throbbing arms and pause her defense. She breathed in, getting ready to repeat the technique to try and eliminate the other temari still heading from them, only two of which were still being controlled by the arrows

Yet, before she could, the boy would land before her, having a technique of his own seemingly readied as his sword had burst into powerful flames, "Breath of the Sun…" He called out fiercely, gripping his hilt tightly, "Third Dance, Crimson Mirror!" She'd watch as he swung his blade defensively in numerous diagonal, horizontal and vertical swings that ultimately created a net of fire around him, one that intercepted the remaining temari, the bright flames burning them away to ash as they made contact with the flames.

"_The Breath of the Sun…_" Kanao mused, watching the flames before her fixedly, "_Those flames…they are different form Lord Rengoku's…just who is this boy…?" _

With the technique finished, he would lower his katana with a slight tremble to his grip, letting out some heavy panting. Whatever it was that breath he'd used, it had obviously taken a tool on him. She'd move past him quickly to intercept another ball already sent out at them by a relentless Susamaru as the demon saw a chance to take her tired ally down. Kanao wouldn't let her though, as she cut down the temari aimed for the boy, briefly turning to meet his panting gaze, and receive a small nod of gratitude as he rose with a slight struggle beside her.

With that, both would dash in to meet the barrage of attacks sent at them. The controlled balls twisted and turned in the air, but Kanao nonetheless cut them down, with the boy covering her back in their advance for any arrow controlled temari Yahaba tried to sneak past them. Quickly, they began closing distance, and Susamaru angrily swung her arm to fling three more of her temari at the two. Kanao would swiftly dodge the first two, mirrored by the boy following her lead, and bring down her blade in a vertical swing at the last one, twisting her blade to the side just as it was midway through slicing the ball so both its divided halves would harmlessly fly in opposite directions over her shoulders.

Now face to face with the two demons, time would seem to slow down as Kanao would move in for the decisive blow, swinging her blade in a feint towards Susamaru, causing the temari demon to fall back while creating three more balls in one set of arms and blasting the human with two at point blank. The Tsuguko would jump however, over Susamaru and towards her real target: the arrow demon, Yahaba. The balls meanwhile only bounced off the ground, raising quite a bit of dust and messing with the visibility of most present, except Kanao and her enhanced sense of sight.

That is not to say Susamaru didn't realize what was happening, and quickly prepared to throw her last ball at Kanao while she was midair, and properly eliminate the troublesome Demon Slayer, only she never noticed the other one jumping through the cloud of dust, his white blade slashing the ball before it could even leave her hand, alongside most of her fingers. This also allowed the boy to use the demon's momentary sense of distraction and planting a foot on her shoulder to trampoline himself after Kanao while throwing Susamaru off her balance.

Yahaba too didn't remain inactive, raising his hand at her as the eyes in both palms blinked several times, unleashing numerous arrows towards Kanao while she moved at him, clearly intending on having all the kotetsu arrows he produced intersect by attaching themselves to her body and pulling at different directions to tear her apart. Seeing through as much, the Tsuguko would widen her eyes in a small moment of panic as she tried to figure out how to escape the arrows, only to notice a presence behind her, noticing the red-clad Demon Slayer boy who'd followed her in her leap. Despite the urgency of the moment, both would meet their gazes then, his arm reaching forward as if extending a hand, and there would be a silent understanding between the two.

Kanao planted one of her feet onto her fellow Demon Slayer's outstretched palm, and used that as a platform to jump right over the arrows before they intersected on her, though in the process one of them would latch itself onto the boy and quickly drag him away from them. His job was done though, and the extra impulse allowed Kanao was able to flip in between the kotetsu arrows sent at her, bringing her blade down to land a vertical cut through Yahaba's outstretched palm, cutting through its eye and causing most of the conjured arrows to fade away.

Clenching his cut hand into a fist, he would growl, "You impertinent brat!" He cried out, stretching out his other hand towards the Demon Slayer ready to try and rip her apart with another few of his arrows, but he was too slow.

"Breath of the Flower, First Form," Kanao called out after a deep breath, her blade seeming to glow in a bright pink light. She rose and brought it with her in an upwards diagonal slash that cut through the arm Yahaba was extending before reaching his neck and slicing that clean off as well. He would even open his normally closed eyes in shock, and see the light in Kanao's pink blade breaking apart into pieces that surrounded them as it mixed in with his blood to create a darker red, reminiscent of falling petals in the spring, "Crimson Rose Petals."

Susamaru would watch that whole demonstration, eyes widening in brief shock before it was replaced by anger, "You bitch!" She snarled, spinning around and forming three temari in her left set of arms, preparing to send them all flying at Kanao all at once while she was still in a vulnerable position, which would make dodging all three balls at once a very difficult task.

Fortunately, it never came to that, as the moment the remaining demon raised her arms ready to sent her temari flying, she would suddenly find herself unable to as all three of her left arms were slashed off at the elbow. Susamaru turned around quickly then, and would only get a brief glance at the shadowed visage of the crimson-clad swordsman behind her before he swung, his blade biting onto her neck and also decapitating the temari demon.

With both demons slain, the boy could only stand there, watching the girl and panting in exertion as the two demons beside them faded into ash, while Kanao herself would sheath away her blade before she turned to look at him as well. It took an awkward moment of silence between the two before he broke it, "…so who are you, anyway?"

* * *

A few minutes later, Tanjiro would find himself sitting on a bench in the town square, half shirtless after removing his haori and lowering the left half of his white kimono shirt, allowing the girl that currently sat beside him to treat the injury he'd received from the temari demon. She was currently applying a balm of sorts to his wound, and there the two stood in silence as she did so, the only thing breaking that being the occasional wince from Tanjiro.

As he'd find out shortly after the battle with the demon assassins, the girl's name was Kanao Tsuyuri, and he DID recognize her from the Final Selection. Not many words had been exchanged since then though, as she'd only offered her medical services in treating his wound, and now there they stood, practically silent ever since.

Feeling a bit awkward with that though, Tanjiro would soon try and strike up some conversation of sorts with the girl, "So…why are you here in this village anyway?" He asked, "Doesn't seem like a prime spot for demon hunting."

Kanao only narrowed her eyes slightly, not even staring up from the wound she was treating, "Evidently our experience today shows otherwise." She noted, to which he looked away slightly, but she continued nonetheless, "But to answer your question, I was searching for a demon said to have been kidnapping young women in this village. I don't think either of those two fit the description quite right though."

"Ah…well, that's because I took that one down." Tanjiro explained to her, before pausing somewhat cautiously and continuing, "…whatever those two were doing here today, it was probably something unrelated."

"Yes, I thought so." Kanao admitted as she finished applying the balm to his wound, beginning then to envelop his upper arm in bandages, "You seem like quite the talented Demon Slayer, after all."

He blinked, not fully sure of how to reply to the compliment, "Oh…uh, thanks."

"You don't need to thank me." She immediately replied, not even turning her eyes away from his wound, "I simply made an honest evaluation of your abilities. Were you weak, I also wouldn't hesitate in telling you so."

"…right." He replied, finding it surprisingly hard to even do something as striking a casual conversation with this girl in all her monotony. "I still do owe you for helping me out with this injury though."

"Actually, you don't." Kanao said, very matter of factly, "All I am doing is pertaining to the bigger success of the Demon Slayer Corps. Be it stepping in to help you in a fight, or even aiding your healing as to make sure you can recover and return to demon slaying at your fullest abilities in the shortest time possible."

"_…yeah, this girl is REALLY hard to talk to…_" Tanjiro realized in a sweat drop. Maybe it was best to just keep quiet. He knew, after all, that two demons working together like the ones they fought today was already enough to raise some eyebrows. He couldn't let her know those two were after him and risk getting the Corps' attention like that. And yet, something compelled him to keep talking, "You're very strong too." He noted, "But you're somewhat different from the other Demon Slayers, I've met. It's like you…" He drifted off.

"Yes?" Kanao asked, looking up at him then as if pushing him to continue.

"…its like you have less of a drive." He explained, "Everyone seems so intent to bring down demons for their own personal reasons, but for you, it seems just like any other job. Just…going through the motions…"

She narrowed her eyes then, "…perhaps you're right. Demon Slaying is just like any other job for me." She admitted, "It is easier that way though, not having to make decisions. Just find a demon, and then kill it. In the end that is really all it amounts to. Hard choices aren't much of a problem, as long as you follow the protocols."

He raised an eyebrow at that, "Why would choices be such a big problem?"

"Maybe they aren't for you, but for me, nothing matters." Kanao said, as if that was the most natural thing, " And if nothing matters, there is no reason for me to have to chose anything."

Tanjiro would pause at hearing that, staring at the girl beside him for a moment of silence. He tried to think of something to say, but before he even did, she'd finished with his bandages, "Well, it's done." Kanao said then, rising to her feet, "This shouldn't take too long to heal now, but I imagine it will leave a scar."

"Right…thanks for that." He said, somewhat distantly as he stared at his bandaged arm.

"Like I said already, there is no need to thank me. This is all part of the job." She repeated herself, and though he himself had said something similar before, it seemed very different to Tanjiro when she said it. It was indeed part of the job, but that wasn't to say it didn't matter. There was a very real chance he wouldn't have survived that fight weren't it for her, "Since there is no further need for me here, I should head off. My sister probably awaits me, and she would be annoyed if I took too long."

With that said, Kanao would bow her head briefly to him and start walking off. She would only go so far though, as Tanjiro looked at the ground hesitantly before calling out, "Wait."

She turned to look at him then, head tilted, "Yes? Is something wrong?"

"…" He looked at the ground for another moment before turning to her, "Before you go, can I ask you a question?"

Kanao looked at him somewhat curiously then, "Hm…let's see." Rather than just answering though, she'd reach out for a coin off her pocket before flipping it upwards into the air, and catching it in her palm again before turning to him, "Alright, go on."

Tanjiro blinked in surprise, "_Did…did she just flip a coin to decide if she'd answer? And she didn't even check it, so how…?_" He shook his head, "_No. Just focus on the question itself._"

Turning to look at her firmly then, the swordsman would ask, "If you are so indifferent about everything, why did you become a Demon Slayer of all things?"

Kanao paused, seemingly surprised by the question, the biggest show of emotion Tanjiro had even seen from her so far. She seemed to mull it over for a moment, before answering, "…I don't remember feeling almost anything ever since I was little. Back then, my family was very poor, and my parents were cruel. The only feelings I knew then were hunger, pain and sadness. And then, one day, I felt like I'd had too much, and it all just suddenly…stopped. From then on, I stopped feeling those things. I stopped caring." She told him, to which his eyes widened, "I remember thinking this was good. That this nothingness was much better compared to what I had before. I didn't even get upset when my family sold me to slavery."

She looked up then, as if reminiscing about something, "That was when I first met my older sisters. They managed to get me from the slaver and raised me in a new home, and yet I never felt anything. Both my sisters were Demon Slayers, so naturally, I was trained by them to become one myself. I've been slaying demons since then, and I never felt anything over it. It was always a simple job. Find the demon and chop its neck, rinse and repeat. Until…" She reached out for the back of her head and untied the butterfly ornament in her hair, letting it fall down to her back, before holding the ornament in her hand while staring at it intently, "Big Sister Kanae was killed by a demon two years ago. That was the first time in many years that I ever felt anything. I couldn't bring myself to cry, but I was sweating so much, all the while trying to come to terms that I would never see my sister, my mentor, ever again. That feeling…that horrible feeling…it is not the reason I became a Demon Slayer, but it is the motivation that keeps me in my path as one. I do not want to feel that feeling ever again, and I do not want anyone else to feel that feeling either. The feeling of seeing someone close to you disappear. And I know that demons aren't the only ones that take people's lives suddenly like this, but if by doing this I never have to see my sister or one of the girls at the estate disappear…then I know I am doing the right thing by being a Demon Slayer. After all, the decision to keep going in this job is the only one I am certain of."

With that all said, she'd tie her hair back with the butterfly ornament before turning to Tanjiro, "Does that answer your question, Tanjiro Kamado?"

Tanjiro blinked then, shaken out of a daze by her question, "Uh….yeah. Yes, it does."

Kanao nodded, though a bit absent from the moment, "In that case, I believe we're truly done here." She said, "Farewell and until we meet again."

With that, she'd jumped off to the nearest rooftop and started making her way out of the village, leaving Tanjiro by himself at the bench. He would sigh, raising the lowered half of his Kimono shirt back over his half-bare chest and his bandaged arm, its long sleeve still bearing a large red spot dripping down its length from the blood he'd lost. Honestly, he didn't expect the girl to spill her guts out to him in the way that she did, but if Kanao truly didn't care about almost anything, it didn't seem so out of character to tell all that to someone she'd just met.

He leaned back on the bench to stare up into the sky at the crescent moon, now lower in the sky than it had been when he last looked at it. His lips twitched into a small grimace when he felt himself leaning against his injured arm, and shifted his weight over to the other one as he continued staring up. "_What an odd girl…_" He mused to himself, still thinking about Kanao, "_…though I can't say she wasn't pretty."_

* * *

Days later, in another location entirely, a petite young woman walked through the halls of a mansion. Her shoulder length hair that faded from black to dark purple was tied together with a white and purple butterfly ornament, and over the Demon Slayer uniform, she donned a white haori with patterns similar to that of butterfly wings. This was Shinobu Kocho, the Demon Slayer's Insect Pillar, and as she made her way through the corridor, she couldn't help but mull over the recent talk she'd had with her younger sister.

Finally, she'd take a left through a slide door and arrive in her destination, A wide open room with only three walls, the fourth leading to an opening of a beautiful inner garden with numerous trees and a pond. Sitting at the edge of the room seemingly watching the garden, was a man with his back turned to Shinobu, his shoulder-length black hair being all one could see from her position.

Approaching the man, Shinobi would stop just some ten feet away before falling down on a single knee, "Lord Ubuyashiki." She said, prostrating herself before the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki would smile, not that she could see as much, "Good afternoon, Shinobu." He greeted the young woman, his voice as serene and calm as ever, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company on this beautiful day?"

Shinobu narrowed her purple eyes somewhat worriedly, "I've asked to meet you to discuss something my sister has reported to me just earlier today as she returned from a mission."

"Ah, Kanao? I've heard she's been doing a splendid job as an official Demon Slayer since passing her Final Selection." He noted, "What did she tell you about, then?"

"Well…she was sent off to hunt what seemed to be a demon kidnapping girls in a small town, but instead upon arriving there she encountered another young demon slayer she recognized from her Final Selection facing off two other demons who were fighting together against him."

"Together, you say?" Kagaya inquired thoughtfully, "Demons are not usually the type to work together like that…unless, that is, if they're ordered by their master himself. But of course, there's no reason for someone like Muzan to worry about a single low-ranked demon slayer…."

"…well, that's not all, actually." Shinobu admitted, "There was something about the Demon Slayer. Kanao said he was strong, but what was really curious about it was that she'd never seen the breathing style used by him before…she said he was using the 'Breath of the Sun'…"

There was an immediate silence followed after that, neither the Pillar nor Kagaya saying a single word as the weight of those words set in. Shinobu herself had only heard tales, supposedly dating all the way back to the first Breath Users…but this couldn't be right. That was hundreds of years ago, and even if it was true, the style would've long died off by then…

"…is that so?" Kagaya asked, finally breaking the silence. Despite not still facing him, Shinobu knew from his tone alone that the man was smiling. "Shinobu…we might have just found a very interesting person…" His head tilted up, as if he was staring up into the sky, even when Shinobu knew that was not the case, "Tell me, what is the young Demon Slayer's name?"

"I believe it was…" She paused for a moment to recollect, "Tanjiro. Tanjiro Kamado."

"Tanjiro Kamado, huh…?" Kagaya chuckled, almost excitedly, "An interesting person indeed…maybe even someone to change the tides in this war we've been fighting for so long…I am curious to find out what kind of Demon Slayer this one truly is..."

**A/N: Did I hear milestone? Cause that's what I reached. As I write this, I have exactly fifty reviews and over a hundred followers to this story, with only four more to go before I reach a hundred favorites. So yeah, if you haven't done either of those things before, early reminder to go do that. And if you did both already or did neither, leave a review too. Those are great.**

**Anyway, with that out of the way, we got the chapter itself. I was surprised at how much trouble I had writting this fight, to be honest, and I'm not entirely sure why. Its the longest one in this story so far, and by far the most rewritten. I didn't even think I'd be able to get this chapter out within a week's notice, but after I finished the fight scene, writting the rest went really quick. So, one important aspect of this chapter is Tanjiro and Kanao. By the reviews of last chapter alone, I can imagine what a lot of you might be expecting, so I guess its time we talk about pairings. Personally, I like writing romance. Its great for character development and allows for good moments of levity. Kimetsu no Yaiba is not a series with a lot of that though. Of course, Zenitsu likes Nezuko, Iguro likes Mitsuki and obviously Kanao likes Tanjiro, but we haven't seen anything major come off that so far in the series, close as it might be to ending.**

**Personally, I like the Tanjiro and Kanao pairing, but here it would have to be something very different. In Canon, there's that whole coin scene and afterwards Kanao seems to develop a crush on him. Here, we just had our equivalent to a coin scene, and Kanao has little to none effatuation to him. So I'd have to take things in a different route to accomodate Tanjiro's change of character, as well as Kanao's, eventually. But I do have some ideas about how I might be able to do that convincingly. So, what I wanna know is what my readers think about this? Do you guys like the idea? Or hate it and want Tanjiro to die alone? Or want him to be with someone else? Or someone else to be with someone else? The point is, I am curious to what your opinions are on the whole pairing thing for this story, so leave an answer in a review, or PM me, or whatever. Preferentially a review though.**

**Anyway, next chapter we're getting to start on something interesting, something I've been waiting for a while, and you guys'll understand what it is once we get to it, but for now, there isn't much else to say. Thanks to DownwardDive for the ocasional Demon Slayer memes he sends me. And now, onto the Reviews.**

_Silver III Jhin: I wonder if Tanjiro will get protective over Zenitsu once they met or something._

**With how I'm planning their relationship to go, I honestly think you might be surprised.**

_Kuro Torii: Thank you for another amazing chapter! Honestly, The moment I found this and read the first chapter I couldn't help but love this story that you've made~ I wonder what will Tanjiro's interactions with Kanao and the others would be like now that he's pretty stoic-ish? Serious? Mhm, I also wonder how Mount Natagumo and the meeting with the pillars would go? If he'd be in that meeting anyway. Also, Much love from me! Keep up the good work, and please update as soon as you can! I need more of this~_

**Stuff like you mentioned will have its turn some time in the near future, as in Natagumo and the Pillars, but I imagine both will be wildly different for different reasons. We'll also be seeing more of how Tanjiro bounces off the other Senses pretty soon too. We just got the real first one since I can't call Genya and Inosuke real interactions rather than a confrontation, or an outright fight in the latter's case. I like how I wrote Kanao and Tanjiro out though, so I hope you do too.**

_DEMONEZUKO: Wow Kanao already? Nice surprise! _  
_Nice update :)_

**I always try for nice surprises. I guess there might be some not very nice ones set for the future too, but we'll get to that when we get to that. **

_Lieutenant Myst: This chapter was incredible, I like it how you made it where Tanjiro isn't overpowered to take two demons on at once. I never realized until you pointed it out that Tanjiro did have Nezuko and the others to help him when battling more than one demon, and I like it how you turned that into a form of weakness for him._

_I like it how your showing certain characters come to Tanjiro's aid earlier than when they did in the manga. Like Kanao, Inosuke and Zenitsu, does that mean we may get to see Genya as well?_

_I'm fine with your use of pronouns, it doesn't bother me in the slightest at all. You do what you want to do, and take your time as well! Your health is important when writing fanfiction stories._

_Take care, and god bless you!_

**You almost figured out what I'm doing with the other Senses, but not yet. It'll probably become clearer by next chapter though. I still stick by that Tanjiro is overpowered, especially in comparison to the other Senses, but he is far from flawless, and that allows me to take him down a peg here and there. Lastly, I'm glad you're good on the pronouns, cause this chapter was full of that. So yeah, thanks for the big review, I enjoy those. **

_Guest: I love it!, by the way thanks for include Kanao so fast. I understand why Tanjiro feel of that way after all in canon he need to think that the demons still have some humanity for the sake of his goal un turning Nezuko back to human. Good chapter I'll wait for the next chapter keep it up!_

**I take it you're the Guest who asked when she'd be appearing right before I had her appear. Another kudos to you. Well, you asked for it, and you got it. I hope you enjoyed her interaction with Tanjiro, as well as their fight together. **

_Olive: i love this story so much! can't wait until tanjiro meet the hashiras tho! that's gonna be an amazing moment. so far i really loved tanjiro's progression and i can't wait to see his limits i guess? since he's still new, he still have a lot to improve and things like that. since there's not that much kny fics, this particular story has been like fulfilling all of the things i kinda expected huhu. like canon divergence and strong tanjiro but not to the point he's op. i'm prob just speaking nonsense at this point but i love you and your writing and i can't wait for the following chapter!_

**Thanks, I love you too fellow internet person. I'm glad you like what I have so far, Tanjiro meeting properly the Pillars is not something too far away now that they've gotten wind of him, but there's still some stuff before that. Tanjiro's limits will also get more clearly established since he'll be having a pretty tough fight coming soon. Cause, well, he's a bit OP, but far from gamebreakingly so...at least yet? I don't know, maybe. I guess now I'm the one not making sense. **

_gvillamia: I hope there was a Tanjiro Kamado x Kanao here hehe_

**Likely, but not certainly. I'd say its a sixty/forty thing. Depends a lot on how people respond to this chapter in specific though.**

Casu4lDucK: Will there be pairings?

**Almost certainly. Which, though, is not something set in stone. I do like writing romance as a breath of levity though, so I can't imagine going this whole story without anyone coupling up.**

_ST0RMCROWN: Will you also refer to Nezuko as it?_

_Nice job I can't wait for the next chapter._

**Well, its all a matter of perspective. From any other demon slayer's POV, she'd be just like any other demon, but if its through Tanjiro's, then it gets a lot more complicated. **

_Arkham Knight: We finally get Tanjiro point of view. It's in how there are similar traits like his canon but without Nezuko there are different personalities. Giyu made a mistake that day. Now Kanao and Tanjiro will meet. Wonder how that will go? This was a good chapter as it focuses on Tanjiro perspective and what he feels and his fighting style. While he is stronger he still has a long way to go. Good chapter. Nice work._

**"Giyu made a wrong decision" might as well be the name of this fic, to be honest. Granted, that's not a real fixed statement since my ideas for this story's ending are still very malleable, and somewhat dependent on how the rest of the manga plays from here on out. So it might have a far darker ending than I have in mind, or it just might not. **

**Anyway, thanks for the long review, its highly appreciated.**

_Neema Amiry: Good writing_

**Thanks, I try.**

_RED Roman Pyro: Nice to see the bride to be was saved because Monjiro arrived earlier at the town. And nice showing his strengths and weaknesses this chapter._

**Its a small detail, but i'm glad to see someone acknowledging it. Early might not be a proper word since I played around with the chronology of things so much, but he did save her regardless.**

_Guest: Once again, amazing chapter! I'm love how this "fanfic tanjiro's" character is. And i can't wait to see how he and kanao will interact with each other. Great work again!_

**Well, there's your answer, though I imagine it might be a bit underwhelming compared to the canonical Coin Scene. I hope you liked it though.**

**So, I guess that's that for that. Hope you liked the chapter, do all those things I already mentioned, Sky signing out. **


	7. Arrival at Kaigara

"_Head to the town of Kaigara to the far south_," Tanjiro remembered his white crow landing on his arm and declaring to him one morning a couple days after his encounter with Kanao and the two demon assassins, "_There, a dangerous demon is said to be in hiding…_"

The crow hadn't been kidding when it said it was far south, it took another couple days of traveling just to get to the place in question. But now, as he made his way down the road, set to arrive soon, he couldn't help but to think about his destination. It was a seaside town from what the maps told him, and silly as it was, Tanjiro had never once seen the ocean. He was born and raised in the mountains after all, and had hardly ever wandered out of them until fairly recently when he went off on his journey. It was curious that, for all the crazy things he'd done as a Demon Slayer, something so simple seemed like a new experience to him. He wondered silently if it would be as vast and endless as the stories described…

His answer would come soon enough as he finished making his way a steep hill, and would find himself atop a cliff overlooking the town, "…oh, wow!" Tanjiro couldn't help but to exclaim then as he took in the sight before him. The place itself wasn't particularly large per say, but far from something one would call a village either. Still, the streets below were clearly buzzing with lots of people, though the tall houses that surrounded it and the numerous wide and narrow streets around the place made it seem like a labyrinth from where he stood. Interestingly, the town extended itself towards the sea through massive piers that even held some smaller houses atop them. Most impressive of all though was the sea itself. Much like he'd been told, it was like a massive lake which extended all the way to the horizon, and even well beyond that, the afternoon sunshine reflected in the endless blue only disturbed by the occasional wave.

He stood there, eyes fixed on the ocean for a solid minute before his daze was broken by a familiar caw. He looked up briefly and, would see a white shape circling the air high above him. Narrowing his eyes, he brought his middle and thumb fingers up to his mouth and let out a sharp whistle. He then raised his arm and waited before, as expected, his messenger crow to landed on it, the one he'd since nicknamed Shiro for the color of his plumage and a lack of a better name. "So, is there something you can tell me about this place before I go in?" He asked the bird.

Opening its wings, it let out a caw before proceeding to respond, "The town of Kaigara started as a small fishing village, but has since grown into a plentiful town, becoming a popular spot for merchants to stop by in their travels as well as many visitors, especially at this time of year, nearing the Ryujin festival that celebrates its founding and the deity their ancestors worshipped."

"Huh…I guess that's why its so filled with people." Tanjiro noted, glancing down briefly at the city and the movement in it before turning his attention back to Shiro, "Still, are you sure there's a demon hiding in this place."

"Another Demon Slayer by the rank of Kinoe was already previously sent out nearby in a mission." It cawed out, "His body was found days later washed up in the beach just a few miles from the town by his messenger crow. A hole had been punched clear through his chest!"

"…Kinoe, huh? That's the second highest rank…" Tanjiro said warily, "I guess that does mean something demon related is going on in here….well, I might as well go down and have a closer look. Thanks, Shiro." The crow would only nod its head briefly, before flapping its wings and flying off

He'd head down from the cliff through a pathway to the side, and after some walking would find himself entering the town of Kaigara. The outskirts, as he'd find out, was nothing special. But after some more walking lead him to the inner city, he would rather quickly find out that, well…to put it simply, a place like this wasn't exactly Tanjiro's habitat. The number of people roaming the streets, combined with the tall buildings, most of which separated only by somewhat narrow streets, made for a somewhat claustrophobic experience.

It got better though, as he'd eventually leave the series of cornering cornering streets into the main road. While it was still very populated , it left more space to breath. And not only that, but it was filled with merchant stalls at both ends, selling a variety of items, from miscellaneous things such as masks and children's toys to different types of food, like for example a grilled squid on a stick. That one seemed particularly odd for Tanjiro, given that he'd never even seen a squid before. There was even a man juggling three lit torches at once in one corner, sustained by the change people left for him in a small can.

He'd keep on exploring the busy town, still somewhat surprised with the sheer number of people and different things all going on around him. He could actually see how a demon could slip in and take someone from this crowd without anyone noticing. If anything, it wasn't a badly thought out hunting spot. Regardless, Tanjiro planned on putting an end to that soon enough.

It was a variety of new smells too, most overpowering of all being the constant smell that almost served as a background to anything else there. It was hard to place on what it was though. With some time to kill before night came, he decided to try and follow that smell, and after some more walking, he'd leave the crowds of people and find himself in a fairly wide beach in between two of the city's large piers, one leading out, of course, to the sea.

"_Right…the sea._" Tanjiro thought then, "_That's what I smelled._" He'd keep on walking into the beach, and soon enough find himself sitting at the sand watching the waves crash. The ocean really was vast, stretching out far beyond the horizon, but not forever. Somewhere out there, there would be more land, with more people in it, different people with maybe similar lives and similar issues. Or not. And past that there would be more seawater, and past that…who knows.

"_If you ever allow your pride to guide your actions, Tanjiro, remember this…_" He could almost hear Yoriichi saying sitting in a tree stump while he laid in the ground near breathless after a particularly intense training session, "_We are small people, in a small land, in a world bigger than we can even imagine, and even then our stories are but seconds compared to that of humanity's as a whole. It might seem like a harsh truth, but I always preferred to view it as somewhat reassuring. No matter the pain we inflict and are inflicted upon, humanity has always gotten back up and kept on walking. In a way, I suppose that even reflects my hopes for you…_"

"_Compared to everything else you taught me, that one seemed like another throwaway piece of wisdom,_" Tanjiro thought to himself, _"But…I can't say I don't somewhat understand you, master…_"

With the peaceful sounds of the waves at the background and the soothing smell of the ocean, Tanjiro would go on to meditate for a few hours, but reopen his eyes in time to catch the sun setting over the ocean. He would just sit there and enjoy the landscape for a while longer, until the sun had fully faded into the horizon, at which point he rose back to his feet. "_Enough lousing around then._" He told himself, "_Time to start hunting._"

Leaving the beach and heading back into town, Tanjiro would notice how, despite him being there for hours, the movement of people really hadn't changed all that much. He noticed though once arriving at the large road downtown that the man previously juggling torches had been replaced by a young woman playing the biwa. He stood there for a bit, listening and watching her strum the strings playing a soft melody, and ultimately decided to leave some change he could spare for her, which was received with a grateful nod.

He stood there watching pleasantly for a moment, before suddenly pausing as his nose twitched. Amidst all the people roaming there, he had caught onto a somewhat…familiar smell. He didn't even notice at first since it was feint, but it steadily grew stronger and sparked some recognition Again, he couldn't quite place this one, but it was definitely from someone he'd met before. A smell he instantly didn't take much to, because while not nearly as retched, it reminded him to that of a demon.

Tanjiro blinked in surprise as this detail finally seemed to jog his memory, and he'd immediately turn to the side to turn face to face with its source, just as said source violently bumped into him and had him stumbling slightly. Last time he'd seen him, he was about as tall as himself, and though only a month had passed since the Final Selection, he'd somehow since gained a good five centimeters on him, not to mention seeming a lot burlier. But he couldn't forget those scars, or that weird half-buzzcut, and especially not that seemingly permanent pissed off look. It was the same boy whose arm he'd almost broke when he tried hitting those two children at the conclusion cerimony. Not only had he grown taller, but he was now sprouting a Demon Slayer uniform, with a purple yukata over it.

The scarred boy tried walking away, but wouldn't get far when Tanjiro placed a firm hand on his shoulder and prevented him from doing so. "I take it from that bump that you recognize me too…and that you obviously hold a grudge." He said, trying to be amicable as the boy glared at him from over his shoulder, "But we're both Demon Slayers now, so if we're both here, it must be for the same reason."

The boy slapped the arm off his shoulder though, "And what if we are…?!" He asked with a grunt, turning away, "You must be deaf if you think you heard me asking for any help."

He continued walking, to which Tanjiro sighed in slight frustration, but followed him regardless, keeping pace, "We're both hunting the demon who took down a Kinoe. It might be dangerous going into it alone." He pointed out, trying to convince the taller Demon Slayer.

"I don't care who or what this demon took down. You're talking to a future Pillar here, so something like this shouldn't anything more than a small fry to me." The boy stubbornly stated. "Now go away, I don't need you following me around like some stray dog."

Tanjiro pursed his lips somewhat annoyedly, continuing to follow him, "Look, you're not listening, we-" He cut himself short, suddenly sniffing at something, "…oh, damn. Demon."

Without another word, he took off, leaving the perplexed taller Demon Slayer, calling out with, "What?! Did you just say 'demon'?!" But by the time he'd finished his sentence, Tanjiro had already run off.

It was early, very early. From his experience, demons wouldn't strike in such a populated center until at least the early hours of the morning. For one to be so close in a place so filled with people showed how arrogant it had grown using Kaigara as its feeding grounds. The thought alone frustrated him, and fueled his drive as he rushed into the more narrow inner streets, following the smell in a restless dash. He'd take a series of turns: left, right, then another left, and so on. But soon enough, the scent would begin growing stronger, until he'd finally find himself led to an isolated alley in between streets, and that's where he'd find his target.

There the demon was, covered in hood and cloak and holding a terrified woman against the wall with a hand covering her mouth. As soon as he arrived, both would immediately take notice of him, the woman would turn her desperate crying eyes over to him in a silent plead, while the demon would glare at him from underneath the hood, messy black hair and wild-looking eyes facing Tanjiro, not to mention the veins in his skin. Weirdest of all though was the mark on its face. Similar to a tattoo, a thick green line was located under both of its eyes and across its nose that ran up vertically into another, shorter horizontal line on its forehead. Four large dots were also placed at the far ends of the line on its cheeks, the middle of the one on its forehead, and below its lower lip.

Immediately, he already comprehended that the demon itself didn't look too inhuman, which probably aided in traversing the town without drawing too much attention. What really caught him off guard though is what he could tell by smell alone…this one didn't exactly qualify for a 'powerful demon'. It didn't seem as weak as the kind you'd find mostly roaming around Fujisakane for those taking the Final Selection to slay, but it wasn't much stronger either. Not that he had the time to concern himself about the specifics given to him by his crow right now, not with someone in danger, "Let her go, demon!" Tanjiro snarled, gripping the hilt of his katana.

"…another Demon Slayer…" The demon noted, his expression growing somewhat worried, before he yanked over the woman, wrapping a hand around her neck, "If you take another step closer I'll kill this bitch…!"

Tanjiro only rolled his eyes at that, before moving in a blur, to which the demon's widened its eyes and backed away, letting go of the woman. Nonetheless, he received a large gash on his throat from the white nichirin blade, and should he have been another moment slower, it'd have been his whole head that ended up slashed off.

The woman had stopped her sobbing, and was looking at Tanjiro in shock. He didn't even turn to face her as he said, "Get away from here, I'll handle this." She only nodded, still shocked, before running off and leaving demon and Demon Slayer to face off.

The demon stood there, glaring at him angrily as the wound on its throat healed, while Tanjiro faced him with his raised katana. The moment the woman took a left in the alleyway's corner and was out of sight, the swordsman moved. Only, being aware of his speed now, the demon moved as well, suddenly leaping up to one of the walls, clinging onto a window's ledge and jumping off again over to the rooftop.

Tanjiro only cursed under his breath, and followed after the demon, leaping as well and planting a foot on the same ledge to give him enough impulse to grip to the edge of the rooftop and climb over as well.

The demon had gotten a head start on him, and was already jumping over across the narrow street to another rooftop, but Tanjiro gave chase nonetheless, increasing his breaths to give him the needed energy to try and catch up. He moved after it, leaping over across rooftops himself while steadily closing distance After the fifth rooftop, the demon would glance over its shoulder and realize the Demon Slayer behind it was beginning to catch up.

Panicking slightly, it would land atop another roof, but suddenly veer left and run along its side. Tanjiro would quietly curse as he mismanaged his jump and was forced to land on the other side of the roof, sliding down slightly before being able to regains his bearings and resume his chase. The demon would eventually reach the edge of the roof and jump off again, this time over one of the larger roads with several people walking in it, though no one really paid much attention to what was happening above.

Regardless, to get across the road, the demon thus had to jump far higher than usual just to get across, and seeing this, Tanjiro would suddenly speed up, taking a deep breath and, once reaching the edge of the rooftop, planting his foot on it and rocketing himself into the air across the large road as well.

However, rather than leaping up high like the demon had, he'd opt to jump straight across, roughly calculating his angle so that, rather than just chasing it across the road, he'd instead intercept the demon while both were midair. It wouldn't notice until it Tanjiro had his hand on his hilt and was moments away from reaching it, which proved to be far too late as both the demon's legs were separated from it at the knee, making for a rough landing when it hit the side of a roof and crashed down to one of the more enclosed roads, causing some panic amidst those who happened to be nearby, though they quickly dispersed.

The demon groaned, pushing itself back against a wall so to be able to sit and perhaps even regenerate his lost limbs, except for when Tanjiro landed right before him, quickly swinging his white blade and stopping just short as the tip reached its throat, "I was told there's a strong demon taking people in this town," He said, "But that clearly isn't you…so then, who?"

The demon grunted, raising its chin as the katana's edge scratched at its neck. "You don't know who you're messing with, Demon Slayer…" It spat out, "You should just sheathe that sword of yours and leave town now. Do that and just maybe the boss might let you live…"

"A boss, huh? I take it you don't mean Muzan Kibutsuji here…" He pondered, "So that means you're working under another demon then…"

"You filthy human! You're not even worthy of saying that name! You are beneath His attention…but not beneath the boss'…" it snarled, "He'd crush you like the bug you are! Just like the other Demon Slayer!"

The demon's badmouthing would be interrupted when Tanjiro brought his katana up and silently slashed it across the face and over his left eye, causing it to hiss out in pain, "Quiet, now." He said, lowering the blade, "I guess your boss is the powerful demon I'm looking for here, if he was the one to kill the Kinoe. That isn't enough to scare me though, especially if this so-called-boss had other small fry like to help in wearing them down. "

The demon chuckled amusedly, "You say that...but you underestimate the Tetsuki Gang...the boss is no normal demon." It warned him maliciously, "You're facing off against an actual Demon Moon now, chosen by the Master himself..." Tanjiro would widen his eyes at that piece of info, and the demon grinned, "Not that you'll ever meet him!" he then cried out as both his legs regenerated then and he pounced at the Demon Slayer, who blinked and raised his blade, only to never even get a chance to swing it as the demon's head was suddenly blown apart with a loud bang.

Smelling a mixture of burning gunpowder and nichirin, Tanjiro would look to the side and see the same scarred boy as before, holding before him a small shotgun, with smoke coming out of the barrel. With the demon at his feet now dead, the swordsman would angrily turn to face him, "Why did you do that?! I had it all under control!"

"The hell you did." The scarred boy told him with a snarl, "That demon was about to pounce on you. You're lucky I was around to deal with it before you got hurt."

"You don't understand!" Tanjiro exclaimed, "I was getting information from that demon! He isn't the one we're hunting, but there's something really odd going down in this town. Apparently, his 'boss' is the one who-"

"Look, I don't care for your detective work here!" He snapped then, "I'm a Demon Slayer. I find demons, and I kill them. The specifics of what happens in between doesn't concern me at all."

Hearing how dismissive and unhelpful his fellow Demon Slayer was being at the moment started at this point to really annoy Tanjiro. "Look, I don't care if you don't like me and want to work alone on this, but if you're going to get in my way while I'm trying to be a proper Demon Slayer then we have a problem here."

The boy grimaced then as he began walking up to Tanjiro then, "The fuck do you mean, a PROPER Demon Slayer?!" He inquired with a snarl, grabbing and tugging at him by the collar of his kimono, " You trying to insinuate something, short stuff?!"

Tanjiro only narrowed his eyes, "Let go of me."

"Or what? You gonna stare me down 'till I let you go again?!" he asked mockingly, "Well, I'll tell you something, that kind of shit doesn't work twice with-"

He was cut off then Tanjiro headbutted him right in the face, knocking the boy taller boy down to the ground with his hand quickly covering his bleeding and broken nose, "I swear..." He sighed, sliding his blade back into its scabbard, "People like you is what's wrong with this whole institution..."

He began walking off then, leaving the boy and his newly broken nose behind, glaring at his back with a mutter of, "Hard-headed bastard..."

* * *

Not too far away from where the two Demon Slayers were, another demon nervosuly observed the interchange hidden in the rooftops above. With a brown colored version of the facial markings the demon just slain moments ago had on his face, this one stood under five feet, but was stocky, with grey skin and ugly-mole-like features as well as messy dirt brown hair, wearing only a sleeveless top and pants, and with his larger arms providing a strong contrast with his smaller legs. The demon, known as Ryusa, was currently nervous after seeing the demon that had been recently taken in by the Tetsuki Gang, Tsukaite, brought down by two Demon Slayers. He'd been watching since he and the red-clad Slayer were having an interrogation session, and had seen the second Slayer arrive to kill Tsukaite when he attacked, as well as the following argument between the two. Ryusa didn't know how lucky he was to be downwind from the two, as well as far above in the rooftops, otherwise his scent would've been caught on by then.

Either way, he didn't waste much time watching more, as he knew immediately he had to report what he'd seen to the Boss. Weeks ago, another Demon Slayer had gotten too close to their territory near the beaches of Kaigara when hunting down Tsukaite. The boss had intercepted the Slayer and killed him, as well as saving Tsukaite and letting the lower demon in as a rookie member of their gang. Much like Hinomaru had said though, the Demon Slayer Corps didn't leave what was well enough alone, and had indeed eventually come to poke their noses into their doings. The boss had ignored it though, said not to worry, that with his status as a Lower Moon, nothing short of a Pillar was enough to bring down their gang.

That didn't mea Ryusa wasn't worried though. As he'd just seen, Demon Slayers around meant dead demons were a real possibility. Tsukaite would've attested to that if he were alive to do so. Regardless, his best chance now was to go back and report on what he'd seen. With that in mind, he'd leap off the rooftop and down to the ground, using his Demon Blood Art to soften said ground and sink into it, digging through it and quickly traversing underground making his way towards the gang's home base. The Boss would know how to deal with this...

* * *

After his scuffle with the scarred boy, Tanjiro found himself wandering around the town in frustration, mulling over the little information he'd gotten while wishing he'd been able to force more of it from that demon. At least he knew there was a whole gang of demons hidden somewhere in this place, led by an actual Demon Moon, unlike the Drum Demon he'd met at that old mansion. That was still so little though. What rank in the Demon Moons did this 'boss' hold? How many were in this Tetsuki Gang of theirs? And most importantly, where was their base of operations? If only that gun-happy idiot hadn't been around to mess this up he could've known all that and more by now...

His line of thought was interrupted when he felt his stomach growl, and suddenly realised he hadn't eaten at all since breakfest that morning, before he'd even arrived at Kaigara. Sighing, he'd decide to switch his priorities and go look for some food, leaving the whole demon problem for later. Soon enough, he'd return to the main road, and after some wandering, find himself in front of a modest ramen restaurant. "_Wow...that smells amazing._" Tanjiro thought, feeling his mouth salivate. Without further ado, he'd make his way inside the restaurant, and take a sit by the counter, "I'll have the miso ramen." He'd tell the cook, and leave some yen to pay for his meal.

It wasn't until he sat down and took his mind off food that he realized he felt another familiar smell, and a strong one at that. Another odd scent. One that reminded him of the smell right before a massive thunderstorm. Looking off to the side, he'd be surprised to see a blond bloy clad in a yellow haori with sad golden eyes staring down into his plate of ramen, as well as a bright red hand mark on his cheek. And not only that, but he too wore the Demon Slayer garbs beneath his haori, plus a katana sheathed by his waist. Despite not having shared a single word with him, he recognized the boy right away as another passer of the Final Selection, the one who'd received a sparrow instead of a messenger crow.

"_Why do I keep running into these people...?_" Tanjiro thought, immediately deciding not to engage with conversation with this one. Not after how his last meeting with another Demon Slayer had just went. Then again...this was evidently a bigger deal than what he thought it would be, with a Demon Moon and an entire demon gang now involved. if he was sent out there for the same reason, which he probably was, then this blond boy could end up proving very helpful, unlike the one with the scars. Different people, different results, after all. Plus, he was somewhat curious about the mark on his face.

"You look like you had a tough day." He said, trying to start a conversation with the boy beside him.

The boy blinked, looking over from his ramen and over to Tanjiro beside him and widening his eyes in surprise for a moment before finally speaking, "...uh, yeah. I...actually tried to confess my love to this one really pretty girl, but she completely rejected me." he looked down, once again downtrodden, "She even slapped me and called me a 'delusional weirdo'...I really thought it was meant to be..."

"Oh...so you broke up with your girlfriend then?" he asked sympathetically, "That's rough."

"Uh? Oh, no, she wasn't my girlfriend." The boy clarified then, "I'd just met her earlier today, but she seemed REALLY nice, and she was REALLY pretty...I really thought we were meant to be together though..."

"_...why is every Demon Slayer I meet end up being a weirdo in some way or another?_" Tanjiro couldn't help but wonder to himself, sweatdropping, "I...can't say I'm sorry for you." He admitted then, "To be honest, that strikes me as a bit creepy, even."

The blond boy then turned to him, suddenly bawling his eyes out, "That's so mean...! How can you say that?! Just because I met her today doesn't mean I can't really like her right away! Ever heard of love at first sight?! Huh?! HUH?!" He whined, suddenly speaking very rapidly, and even when Tanjiro tried getting a word in, he just continued, "Besides, I'm a Demon Slayer! Most of us die before we reach twenty! I can't find love if I don't take some risks! I know its a dangerous job, but I really don't wanna die a vir-"

He was suddenly silenced when Tanjiro placed a hand over the boy's mouth, most of the people present in the small restaurant now staring at the two of them. "...okay, lets forget I ever said that." He sighed, "Lets take it from the start. My name is Tanjiro Kamado. What's yours?

"...yeah, I know." He admitted, his bawling suddenly dying down, "I'm Zenitsu Agatsuma. Its nice to properly meet you."

Tanjiro would raise an eyebrow, "You know?"

Zenitsu blinked, and looked down sheepishly, "I...remember you from the Final Selection. When those guys confronted you about not having a sword, or your talk with that other kid about having his katana, or your fight with that one weirdo with the boar head."

"...you listened to all that?" He asked, surprised, before pausing, "Wait, that last one didn't happen in the Final Selection! How do you know I fought that guy?"

Zenitsu looked even more sheepish now after his little slip, "Uh...I might've been closeby...hiding from that guy...behind a bush..." He confessed, getting quieter with each ellipsis.

"...right." Tanjiro muttered, trying to overlook that part, "I guess that means you were also sent here after the so called 'powerful demon' in this town."

"Well...I don't know much about any powerful demon. I just followed my sparrow all the way here." The blond boy narrowed his eyes, "But if you're looking for help, you probably realized by now I'm not gonna be able to give you much."

He blinked, "What do you mean? You're a Demon Slayer too, aren't you?"

"I'm not like you," Zenitsu admitted with a sad smile, "Its clear you're a reliable Demon Slayer. You took down the boar guy without harming him too much and saved that other boy from a demon. I'm too cowardly...too weak. I'd only be dead weight for someone like you..."

Tanjiro looked at him for a moment, "...that's not true though, is it?" He asked, and the boy looked at him in confusion before he clarified, "Sure, you might not exactly be...brave. But I could tell it from the moment I noticed you," He looked at the boy then, and though it might be a contradiction to everything he'd seen of this guy so far, he said something he knew from gut instinct alone, "You are a lot stronger than you think, Zenitsu."

Zenitsu must have caught onto the honesty in his voice, because he looked surprise by how genuine that statement came out as, "Do you...do you really think so?" He asked somewhat hopefully.

"Yeah, of course." Tanjiro assured him, "Sure, you have some stuff you obviously need to work on, but...I really think you have the potential to be a great Demon Slayer."

Realising the boy beside him meant what he said, Zenitsu only stared at him in silent shock for a moment, and couldn't even figure out what to respond to him in time, as Tanjiro's miso ramen soon arrived, and he opened a small smile, breaking apart his chopsticks ready to dig in, "You should eat too." He advised, "Before your ramen gets any more colder."

"...oh." The blond boy murmured then, only then being reminded of the meal before him, "Right...of course." He said, breaking apart his own chopsticks, and though Tanjiro was too distracted by his own food to notice, there was now a small smile on Zenitsu's face as well.

* * *

Elsewhere in the town's underground, the demon known as Ryusa would emerge from the floor, the soft ground beneath him quickly hardening back to normal. He rushed through the enclosed corridors, using his arms to gain some speed when his smaller legs wouldn't get him as far. Finally, the dark enclosed corridor opened up into a massive room filled to the brim with random junk, mostly piles of boxes, and scattered remains of both human and animal in the form of numerous bones, all solely illuminated by some dim lightbulb above the room's entrance.

No sooner did Ryusa enter the room that another figure landed right in front of him, a tall and lanky demon taking the appearance of a young man with slicked back red hair. He wore a scarlet kimono with white square patterns scattered throughout it and had pale yellow eyes accompanied by a wide smirk. Of course, like every member of the Tetsuki, he also done a red version of the tattoo on his face, "Why, if it ain't mole-face himself. Back from digging around tunnels around town?" The demon asked mockingly.

Ryusa glared at the demon before him, "Get out of the way, Nobiru! I gotta talk to the boss urgently!"

"The boss can't be bothered to deal with innocuous things just like that." A deeper voice spoke as another demon stepped out of the shadows. This one was even taller than Nobiru, a bald man with grey slitted eyes, standing over six feet, and with a fairly normal complexion, but brutish features such as a flat nose and sharp protruding lower canines protruding like tusks. He wore a featureless brown Kimono shirt with loose black trousers. Much like the rest, he had the same tattoo on his face, his colored blue. "You can just tell us, and we might relay the message."

"Its not innocuous!" Ryusa turned his glare at the other demon. Being by far the weakest between them, it was easy to be respected by those guys, "What I have to say is important! Crucial, even! I'll only tell him face to face!"

"You heard Hinomaru, short stuff." Nobiru grinned, "You can either tell us or go back to digging whatever hole you came out of."

"Stop it, you two." A third voice suddenly said, a young sounding one too, and all three demons turned to look into the darkness, where hidden by the shadows, a figure sat silently above a piles of wooden boxes neatly rearranged to look like a throne. "What do you have to tell me, Ryusa?"

"Buh-boss..." Ryusa stuttered, as both Nobiru and Hinomaru stepped aside the moment their boss spoke. If nothing else, Ryusa could understand why they acted like that before that demon. He had been part of the gang for half a year, and yet talking to the boss like that never failed to make him nervous, "There are Demon Slayers in town! They even killed Tsukaite, and they are looking for you! For us!"

"...more Demon Slayers." The boss said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "And just on the day of the festival too...they'll no doubt be ruining or chances of taking more humans. What an annoyance." He sighed, before rising and leaping down from his makeshift throne, landing on the ground firmly and beginning to walk towards them, "But I suppose we'll have to deal with it. Its certainly a nuisance, but it'll be over quicker if we just take them down quickly one by one. Worst case scenario, I'll deal with them just like I dealt with the last one."

Finally stepping into the dim light, a teenage-looking boy with incredibly pale skin would emerge, his face decorated by the same tattoo as his underlings, only his being black. He had dark brown hair with bright orange tips that were worn swept back but fluffed out on either side of his head and neck. Alongside a white haori with a yellow scale pattern down the sleeves, as well as a white button-up shirt and dark hakama pants. Last but not least, his eyes were cat-like in shape, the pupils slit and the irises pale blue with a white ring around the sides. Most importantly of course though was the kanji for 'Lower Moon Six' engraved onto the one on his right.

"After all, they are no pillars." The boss, also known as Kamanue, stated, "Now, who's ready to hunt some Demon Slayers?"

**A/N: So...I know I don't have a strict schedule to adhere to, but this chapter is a bit late. I intended to post it on Monday, then on Christmas Day, but we'll settle for the day after, then. Speaking of which, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, since this is the last chapter of the year, and its a special one at that. **

**This is my first foray into an original arc, that has nothing to do with the anime, and as you all saw by the end of the chapter, concerns a different Demon Moon entirely than canon. That is not to say I won't be getting back to arcs that were in the story, I still have a couple more to go before we diverge permanently, but this is a good testing ground for building entire plotlines from the ground up. ****It also concerns something that will become very evident in the coming arcs, and that is that, in Canon, most of the Lower Moons got shafted pretty hard...through this story, I hope to somewhat mitigate that. You all will see just how soon enough, but Kamanue is just the start of that.**

**Well, what else...? Ah, I managed to beat the mark of a hundred favorites, and the last chapter with Tanjiro and Kanao's interaction was very well received, which means I'll probably pursue the pairing in the future. No rush though, since this isn't a romance story anyway, I get ample time to mould their relationship. **

**Anyway, this chapter was mostly setting up the stage for next chapter, where we'll get a whole lot of characters fighting one another, but I hope you guys liked it regardless. It is important if you do, since this is the first divergence of canon, and we'll have a lot of that in the future, so I know I'm taking the story in the right direction.**

**The usual thanks to DownwardDive, who recently wrote a one-shot based on the previous canon chapter named A Mamba's Venomous Breath, with Iguro ****Obarai ****going full on Maito Gai Eight Gates against Muzan.**

**Now, onto the reviews.**

_DEMONEZUKO:Nice chapter~ Suprise Shinobu :D_

**Surprise Shinobu indeed.**

_Lieutenant Myst: I'm alright with Tanjiro and Kanao, some people do stories where the love is fast-paced and there isn't a lot of room for development in the relationship. Though I can tell that you are one of those people who like to flesh out the characters and their involvement with each other before starting a relationship. _

_My only guess for the next chapter about what is going to happen is either the train arc, or where we get to meet Lower Moon Five, that's all I can think about for what may happen in the next chapter. _

_On thing that I'm really looking forward too (even if I have to wait a really long time), is what Nezuko looks like as a demon. Whether she looks like a child, or a grown woman, and what level she is one as a demon as well. _

_I'm okay with the use of pronouns, as sometimes too many she and he in a story will make me get all squirrely and is something I have a lot of trouble trying to decipher who is who in a story. _

_Can't wait to see what you have in store for us with the next chapter, take your time and take good care of your health as well. God Bless You!_

**While I like writing romance, it is far from the main focus when it comes to this story, so I'll be able to have it happen without rushing anything too much. So yeah, you're damn right I'll take my time in getting this right.**

**Well, both of those are wrong, but honestly, you couldn't have possibly guessed something I made up. I never much liked the train arc until the end fight, but I know for sure we'll be seeing Natagumo on this story. **

**And then, Nezuko...you'll see when you see. Her appearance is really not that far off now, except I don't wanna outright say it and ruin the surprise. **

**I'm glad no one seems to have a problem with the whole prounoun thing, aside from me obsessing over it. I guess its only natural for me to be my biggest critic, I'm the one who spends the most time thinking about this story anyway. I hope the way I use it doesn't confuse you though.**

**Anyway, thanks for the review, I hope to see what you think on this chapter as well.**

_Ztassassin555: See i find a problem in this that breaths doesn't generate elements but make the sword flow like an element even the breath of the sun its secret in making the demons unable to generate by mastering one can turn their blade red in color which is the reason that stops regeneration like we so with demon moon one ._

**I imagine you're refering to the Breath of the Sun flames burning the Susamaru's bouncy balls like that. Well, fair point, the flames are not physical, but the temari also aren't actual normal balls, they appear out of thin air, bounce around and are thrown with the force of a cannon behind it. At least for how this story makes it work, similarly to how it can negate a demon's regeneration, the Breath of the Sun can also negates their blood arts. I'm not trying to provide a canon explanation as much as how I will have it work in this story, but for me its the same as Tanjiro burning through Rui's strings after failing to cut them with the Breath of Water.**

_sebku:Ha wey que buena historia_

**Gracias. **

_mr pink hair: I'm back!_  
_Now it's time for me to say everything that has been on my mind._  
_First, previous chapter (05) we got our best boy(old man?) Yoriichi back! I really like that guy._  
_Second, the fact that sun breath takes a tool on tanjirou's body makes me wonder if it is because he didn't train his body enough or if it is because his breathing technique is still imperfect and he needs to do something like total concentration constant training to improve lung capacity._  
_Anyway, continue with the great work and It also seem like things are starting to move..._  
_Bye bye and have a nice day!_

**Yoriichi will be a reoccurring presence while with Tanjiro's POV throughout the story. Almost everything he knows was taught to him by Yoriichi after all, though I'm still looking for a chance to make a proper full flashback detailing some stuff that happened in the ****timeskip. As for the breathing techniques, Tanjiro can already keep his breathing going 24/7 full concentration much like Kanao or the Pillars do. And while he is far ahead from how strong Canon Tanjiro was at this point, he is not strong enough to wield the Breath of the Sun without some drawback. Remember, these are techniques so powerful that they were unable to be passed down to anyone BUT Tanjiro's ancestors by Yoriichi...for whatever reason, so naturally it'll take a while for him to properly master it.**

_Mukuro: First of all, very good chapter, I ask me what is next, Tanjirou is going to meet Zenitsu or one of the Pillars? Finally if you ask me I pretty much love the Tanjirou x Kanao pairing._  
_I look forward for more of them, but is just my opinion read you next time!_

**Well, with this chapter, you've got your answer, Zenitsu indeed. And Genya too, while at it. Glad to finally being able to finish introducing the Five Senses properly.**

_gvillamia: Will it's better if you pair Tanjiro and kanao to each other_  
_No affairs, cheating or anything like that I want then to be together until the end and die together happily_  
_Well please reply if you will make a chapters for that_

**Eh, maybe not, but things really aren't always that simple.**

_KaitoFreedom: I like this , it's a refreshing take on Demon slayer and the best part is that it is well written and enjoyable to read. I can't wait to see how you further develop the changes in this story. Hope to see more soon._

**Thanks. If changes in the story are what you're looking for, you've honestly began reading this at a great time. I'm curious to see what you'll think of this original arc and how it eventually goes. **

_Deutzieg: A possibility TanjiKana story? Count me in! I like it how Tanjiro is OP but has his flaws as well, imagine if Tanjiro already has Himejima/Yoriichi eyesight and also can hide his battle fury earlier at the story, he would be really, really OP..._

_I like their interaction in this chapter, a romance development is something that I like, so yeah, I agree if you decide to add it._

_Nice update, as always, can't wait for more!_

**Actually, I think Tanjiro would be far worse off if he had Himejima's eyesight. Blind jokes aside, I get it that you mean the see-through world, and both that and the mark will be addressed in their due times, but for now Tanjiro is good with what he's got. **

_Guest: I would love to see you pair Tanjiro with Kanao!_

**You and most people, fortunately.**

_Guest: I Stan the tanjiro and kanao pairing! I can't wait to read about their next interaction. And great chapter btw, the fight scene was amazing!_

**I actually had to look up what Stan means in this context. Made me feel old for someone in his twenties. Thanks for the review dou.**

_ST0RMCROWN:I always love Tanjiro x Kanao. However I'm more curious about if Nezuko was to be shipped with someone who would it be lol. I think it would be very interesting. Anyway nice chapter!_

**There might actually be an answer to the Nezuko question, but I'll be holding onto that for a while longer as well.**

_Arkham Knight: Was a good fight. Really like how Tanjiro is strong but still have his limits. How meeting with Kanao was good as it show a different outcome. I said that they could have feelings for one another as you said this will be darker than the canon so my just have a bit of happiness before it all goes crushing down. So the demon Corp are finally aware of Tanjiro really how you are setting the event up. Great chapter._

**Well, they just met, so any actual feelings will take a bit more than that to develop, but I'll be working on that. As for being darker than canon...eh, I really can only aim. For all I know the manga might end up with everybody dead at this point and I wouldn't be all that surprised about it either. (In the one in a million chance you read this Croc-Sensei, I'm kidding, please don't kill off Tanjiro.)**

_tokitoumuichrio:The chapter was amazing! I love how you make the story work perfectly, even without a character as important as Nezuko aiding Tanjiro, and it just tied together so nicely! The way you wrote Kanao and Tanjiro meeting was absolutely adorable (Im a shipping fangirl so I ate that up) and I can't Wait for your next chapter!_

**Nezuko is a main character, so obviously her not being there will make for a dozen different changes with how things will go down, and as this chapter's shown, with time it will wildly diverge from Canon. I'm glad you also liked Tanjiro and Kanao, especially given that it will play a major part the future of this story and both their developments.**

**Well, I think that's it for today. I forgot to mention Zenitsu and Genya in the Author's Note itself, but I'm also glad to finally have introduced every single member of the Five Senses, especially since the former is my favorite character in this series period. Also, I looked it up recently, and this is apparently the fifth most reviewed Kimetsu no Yaiba story. I consider that quite an accomplishment, but fourth or third would be better than fifth, so do leave a review while you're around, and Favorite + Follow if you haven't yet. See you guys next year. Sky signing out.**


	8. The Tetsuki Gang

Some time had passed since Tanjiro had met Zenitsu in the small ramen restaurant, and now the town of Kaigara entered into its early hours of the morning. Despite his initial doubts, the former had managed to convince the latter to help him out somewhat with the demon situation in this town, despite Zenitsu remaining terrified when presented with the idea of facing off a powerful demon, he'd agreed to patrol the town separate of him, and have their respective messenger birds sent out for the other's help should something come up. The blond boy had apparently already heard Tanjiro's crow speak before and voiced how weird that was, but had been doubly surprised to find out he could also understand his messenger sparrow's seemingly meaningless chirps.

Regardless, both had taken their separate ways to patrol different ends of the town, Zenitsu sticking with the less populated inland half, while Tanjiro looked through the beachside and the piers, as well as the nearby streets. It had been several hours since then and yet nothing had since come up. While walking around trying to get a whiff of that familiar demonic stench, Tanjiro couldn't help but to wonder about the Demon Slayer he'd recently met.

Zenitsu seemed…atypical for a Demon Slayer. While he could easily see how the other guy with the scars had become a Slayer, Zenitsu didn't seem at all inclined for his job. He was obviously very afraid of demons, and quite whinny if he had to be honest, but deep down seemed like a good person. And yet, his smell told an entirely different story. There was an odd intensity about it, not the smell of a coward or a weakling, but the smell of someone truly dangerous when he wanted to be. The sheer difference between his demeanor and aura made him a walking, talking paradox in Tanjiro's eyes. But he trusted his own instincts, and when trouble eventually started, he knew Zenitsu would be there to help him…hopefully.

That line of thought was cut off when, walking across a beachside street still populated despite the time, the wind would shift and the smell he'd been waiting for would finally reach his nose. Not the smell of a single demon though, but rather two of them. He'd look off to the side and see two figures standing atop a nearby rooftop: a tall red-haired young man in a red kimono and an even taller muscular bald man, both donning the same face markings as the demons he'd hunted just earlier that night. The former locked gazes with him for a moment, and grinned, before moving off again with its partner.

Immediately, Tanjiro cursed and moved after them, leaping up to the rooftop uncaring of what the people nearby thought, and rushed after them, the two demons had managed to open quite a distance in the short time they had, but his nose made it impossible for them to escape. Following their smell, he'd run across a couple rooftops, jump down to a narrow street, take a couple turns and, finally, run across an alley that ended up right on one of Kaigara's main roads that led to its piers. Much to his surprise. Both demons were standing side by side, just across the road, ignored by most of the passersby.

As he got closer, he could make out more distinct features of the two, such as the square patterned scarlet kimono or the yellow eyes of the red-haired demon or the brutish features and grey eyes in the bald one. The former in particular wore a particularly annoying grin, still, "Now there he is…the Demon Slayer who's messing about in our territory. Well, one of them, anyway."

Tanjiro wrapped his hand around the hilt of his katana, while momentarily glancing up to see that the white dot previously circling far above his head was now gone, meaning Shiro had flown off already after Zenitsu as he'd instructed. Still…with these many people around, it would be risky to start a fight with them there, "And you're another two members of the local demon gang, whatever its name was. I can see already neither of you are the boss I'm looking for though."

"The boss has more important things to worry about than dealing with your kind of garbage. " The bald one gruffly stated, "Me and Nobiru are more than enough in this case."

"Damn right." The red-haired demon, Nobiru, said with a sly chuckle, "We were ordered to take out the three of you, both the punk you were brawling with earlier and the blond coward you befriended. To assure efficiency in your demise though, we decided to do you all each at a time."

"Alright then." Tanjiro said defiantly, narrowed eyes glaring at the two, "Let's take this somewhere else and I'll gladly let you two have a go at me. Its on neither of our interest to get these people involved. After all, do you really wanna risk your feeding grounds on a squabble like this…?"

Nobiru's grin then seemed to reach to the very corners of his face, "Oh! But that's when you're wrong…" He turned to his partner, "Will you do the honors then, Hinomaru?"

The bald demon, Hinomaru, only narrowed his eyes and nodded, before suddenly reaching out to the side and grabbing onto the arm of a young woman that just happened to be passing by. Before neither her nor Tanjiro could even react, he'd placed a hand over her mouth and, with a single tug to the side, broke her neck.

Tanjiro could only watch in shock as the woman's limp body hit the ground, and the passersby quickly began noticing, causing widespread panic and most of the immediately present civilians to flee from the scene, leaving only a wrathful Tanjiro staring daggers at both Hinomaru and Nobiru, the latter still donning a massive shit-eating grin.

"Why?" The swordsman asked, quietly yet with a deathly intensity.

"Because," The unfazed Nobiru then said, "we've gained too much attention already. We've been in this town for three months now, feeding off its constant intake of people. Its a shame to ruin it all on festival night of all places, but once we kill you the Demon Slayers will just send more and more stronger people until they eventually send the Pillars to take us out. Boss said so himself." He explained, "Our best bet is to get rid of you and then move on to another town where we can find more humans to eat."

Tanjiro's mask of calmness was briefly broken as he grimaced in an expression of hate and resolve, the grip around his katana's hilt tightening "You know I can't let that happen." He told them warningly, "You and this whole gang will meet its end tonight, I don't care how many of you I have to kill myself."

"That so…?" Nobiru asked him tauntingly, "Big words for such a tiny demon slayer!" The demon drew his arm back and swung it forward…except, unexpectedly, it stretched, and to very much inhuman levels. In a single moment, he'd elongated his limb to many times its original length as if his body was made of rubber and brought down his extended arm on Tanjiro, who was immediately forced to roll to the side in order to dodge despite his momentary surprise at the demon's Blood Art. Nobiru would drag his arm to the side and try to have it trip the Slayer over, but he managed to sideflip over the outstretched limb, landing and dashing at the demon with his blade leaving its scabbard, only to be intercepted by Hinomaru seemingly materializing next to him in a stance and throwing a powerful punch at Tanjiro.

The swordsman managed to raise his untied scabbard and the half-drawn sword in it to block the blow, but was still sent back skidding quite a distance from the force behind it. Just as his momentum was slowing down however, his back foot would suddenly sink into the ground as if it had suddenly turned into mud before quickly hardening again. Just then did he notice the third smell of a demon present in his surroundings. "_Damn, there's still another demon nearby…this one doesn't seem as strong as the other two though. That must be why its trying to stay out of sight._"

"Hinomaru, if you will…" Nobiru called out, to which the taller demon nodded and clapped his hands together, taking in a deep breath, holding it in and puffing his cheeks, before suddenly releasing from his mouth a fireball many times his own size directed towards Tanjiro.

"_And this one can spit out fire…amazing._" He sighed, but nonetheless gripped his katana tightly, before suddenly drawing with a great deal of force. Despite the lack of proper footing due to being stuck to the ground, he nonetheless managed to produce enough force to slash the fireball clean in half. This gave him a clear look at the shocked expression shared by both Hinomaru and Nobiru, as both clearly expected that attack to vanquish him.

Regardless, Tanjiro wasn't done yet, as he took a deep breath and, in a burst of speed, broke free of the ground enclosing around his feet and rushed towards the two demons. Nobiru would curse, and extend both arms trying to intercept him, only for the Demon Slayer to nimbly maneouver across his arms, leaping and landing atop one of the arms ready to move in and slice the demon's head off, stopped by Hinomaru spitting out a smaller fireball at him and forcing Tanjiro to use the arm as a platform and leap over the two demons with a flip, landing behind them ready to dash in blade in hand, only for Nobiru to grin and suddenly retract his arms with surprising speed, twisting around with his spine at an impossible angle and sending them towards the Slayer just as his katana was swung, forcing him to change plans and narrowly dodge the arm's knockback with a jump back. Even that though was made harder as he felt the smell of the third demon again and had to jump again the moment he landed to avoid being caught in the semi-liquified ground aiming to trap him.

"_These three aren't giving me any openings..._" Tanjiro thought to himself, "_They might not have techniques picked to function off one another like those assassins, but they're still trouble fighting together. My best chance is to stall for time and wait for the right chance to hopefully take one of them down._"

Hinomaru breathed in and clasped his hands together again, this time releasing a series of small fireballs in quick sequence from his mouth aimed at Tanjiro, who in turn was forced to dodge them, taking cover behind a now abandoned food stall that took the brunt of the firepower for him. After a couple fireballs though, an overextended arm would burst through the stall and grab Tanjiro by the arm, dragging him back and through its remnants. Luckily, he managed to slash the arm off and halt his dragging before it could reach Nobiru, all the while once again narrowly dodging when he used the knockback of another arm to try and strike him, the blow instead hitting the ground with enough power to crack it and raise a cloud of dust. He tried to use that to back away and open some space, but was forced to duck when the smell of a third demon hit his nose and he had to dodge a club-like arm being swung at his head from behind.

The third demon was a mole-like creature, more inhuman than the other two, with disproportionate arms to its small legs, alongside the brown version of the usual tattoo worn by all these demons. It had burst out of the ground from behind him and tried to attack, but had failed, and was cut deeply across the chest when Tanjiro retaliated, but was unable to finish it off due to a red light burst through the cloud of dust, forcing him to leap away when another fireball burst through the cloud of dust, this time jumping for a nearby rooftop, knowing that way he would at least not have to worry about the mole demon digging around underneath him.

Even then, he was barely given breathing time when a hand gripped the edge of the rooftop, and Nobiru would use the quicker retraction of his extended arms to send himself flying skyward, before extending both arms again to grip both opposite edges of the rooftop. Tanjiro would be quick to jump off to another rooftop before Nobiru dragged himself down and landed with enough force to collapse the roof entirely, along with a lot of the house below it.

For the first time since the battle began, Tanjiro had a breathing moment, and when he did he suddenly noticed yet another smell nearby. Not a demonic one, but one oddly similar, one he recognized, and had somewhat mixed feelings about at the moment. That breathing moment didn't last long as Nobiru's hand soon grabbed onto the edge of the rooftop he stood on again, and this time used his retraction to throw himself towards the Slayer, using his other arm as a whip to strike at him. He'd slide down the side of the roof to dodge the arm, which instead hit where he previously stood and tore off a decent chunk off the rooftop, but was intercepted by Hinomaru climbing up the side of the roof and blasting him with a focused stream of flames, forcing Tanjiro to leap off the rooftop, with him burning the end of his haori, but managing to roll and diminish the impact of the fall while dodging the fire.

And yet, the moment he landed, Nobiru had already jumped off the rooftop after him, and would grin as he extended his leg and brought it down upon him. This time though, he wouldn't even have to dodge, as Nobiru's leg was blasted clean off at the middle, separating his thigh and calf in an explosive boom. The demon would land roughly, crashing and rolling in the ground, "Just who…?" He turned to look angrily, and would see the one who had crippled him down the road. Another Demon Slayer, this one donning a buzzcut and his fair share of scars, with a bandaged, bent nose, holding down a smoking gun in one hand and a short katana in the other. He had barely any time to pay attention to this newcomer however, as Tanjiro was already rushing him, the blade in his hands swinging for decapitation.

"Nobiru!" Hinomaru would call out from the rooftop, clasping his hands together before releasing a fireball down on the road to envelop both demon and Demon Slayer. The latter managed to cease his offense and dodge the flames, while the former was completely consumed by them.

Tanjiro would land beside the scarred boy with his blade still raised, initially surprised to see one demon attacking another, but quickly remembering the flames were nowhere near enough to kill him. Sure enough, after a few moments, Nobiru would rise from the flames and walk out as if nothing had happened with a brand new leg, his kimono's upper half mostly consumed by the fire, and his whole body donning multiple quickly healing burns marks. On his face though, he still donned the same wide grin as always, "Thanks for that, Hinomaru." He said to his partner, "I was starting to get a bit sleepy here…"

As he said that, Hinomaru would land beside him, alongside the third demon burrowing out of the ground beside him, and Tanjiro would cautiously raise his blade at them, glancing over to the Demon Slayer beside him, "Hey…I know we've had some problems, but…can we at least agree the situation is dire enough to call upon a truce?"

The scarred gunslinger would glare briefly at the swordsman beside him, but would quickly turn his attention back to the trio of demons that faced them. "…fine." He reluctantly agreed, "But that still doesn't mean I like you."

"_The feeling is mutual._" Tanjiro thought, but decided to keep silent on the off chance this might harm the already fragile alliance he'd just formed. Instead, he just focused on the three demons, as Nobiru raised his arms and brought them both down on them like whips, forcing both Demon Slayers to move on opposite sides to dodge them, the taller of the two already reloading his gun with another two shells as dust was raised from the arms rising a cloud of dust from the ground. Tanjiro would lose sight of his reluctant ally, but be forced to stay on his feet when both Hinomaru and Nobiru focused their efforts on him with whipping arms and small fireballs, both of which missed and struck the ground constantly around him, and ensured he'd be covered from their sight through a dust cloud. He'd hear the boom of the gunshot at one point, as well as a pained sound that had probably come from the third demon, but focused on dodging the several attacks coming at him and opening some distance instead, jumping out of the dust cloud.

Not a moment after he did so though, the other Demon Slayer would be sent tumbling beside him, landing roughly. Tanjiro was about to ask if he was alright when the boy looked up at the dust cloud with a feral look on his eyes, his mouth covered in fresh blood and…wasn't his nose bent after that one headbutt earlier? Either way, he didn't have much time to ponder on it as the three demons emerged from the fading dust "Damn it, Ryusa! I told you to sink the punk-looking one quickly so we can focus our efforts on the first one!" Nobiru frustratedly shouted at the third, mole-looking demon. "Is that so hard for you to get?!"

"I didn't expect that bastard to shoot at me when I tried!" The third demon, apparently Ryusa, said defensively, "Not to mention, when I tried to get close, the kid outright bit a chunk out of my arm!"

"_He…bit that demon…?_" Tanjiro thought to himself, glancing over at the other Demon Slayer curiously.

"I don't care what he did, you good for nothing mole!" Nobiru snapped, "I can see you're too useless to take care of anything by yourself, so I guess we'll have to go for plan B."

Ryusa glared at his fellow demon with frustration, but sighed and conceded as he placed his large arms on the ground to soften it, allowing Nobiru to stretch his arms into the ground, burrowing into it with ease, while Hinomaru began blasting them with a steady stream of flames from his mouth, forcing both Demon Slayers to move in order to dodge it. The fire breathing demon continued following after them with his flames, forcing the two to move towards a house where, before they could leap over to the top, they were suddenly cornered by two outstretching arms breaking through the softened ground.

The scarred Demon Slayer, slashed at it with his short sword, but was unable to land a deep enough blow to cut the arm off and had his own arm grabbed, quickly being dragged through the softened ground towards the two demons. He managed to blast the arm off with his by then reloaded gun and wasn't dragged all the way, but found himself sinking nonetheless. Tanjiro though was a bit more trouble as he managed to initially dodge the arm's reach, but was left with little space to move from the incoming wall of flames and eventually by the end of his haori mid-jump, before the hand dragged him closer and grabbed tightly onto his ankle. He tried spinning his body to try and force Nobiru to let go of him, but the arm seemed to simply twist around when he spun just like a rope would, and it dragged him back nonetheless.

As Tanjiro was dragged through the softened, almost liquified, ground, Hinomaru would halt his flames and take a deep breath, preparing to release a large fireball upon the Demon Slayer. Furthermore, Nobiru had decided to use the twisting motion built up on his rubbery arm against Tanjiro, and had it reversed as he would be spun around while dragged, further enhancing his disorientation. Unexpectedly though, this somewhat worked on the swordsman's favor, as this gave him the opportunity to improvise one of his Breath Techniques despite the tough situation.

Taking a deep breath, Tanjiro would kick at the softened ground to throw him midair while still being dragged by the elastic demon's arm, just as Hinomaru released another large fireball upon him. "Breath of the Sun, Fifth Dance…" He murmured as his blade also burst in flames, and slashed through Nobiru's arm, using its momentum to rocket himself over the fireball and keep spinning his body, landing in the middle of the three surprised demons and bringing all the momentum built up by spinning his body midair in one powerful swing, "Flame Chariot!"

Hinomaru and Nobiru would manage to narrowly jump away to dodge the attack, though the former would lose both arms in the process while the latter got away with a deep cut along both his arms and chest. Ryusa was not so lucky, being the closest to the attack and slowest of the three, and was thus the only one unable to escape the slash aimed at all three of their necks, being thus decapitated by Tanjiro's flaming blade.

Both demons watched as their ally's body and head quickly faded to ash without another word, both somewhat surprised, but neither seeming really all that broken up about it, "Well, I never did like that mole fucker." Nobiru admitted, "But I AM surprised…this guy might be worth a bit more credit more than we originally gave him. He nearly managed to get us both there, so beware."

Hinomaru nodded, and even him, normally quiet and stoic, seemed a bit taken aback after Tanjiro's last move, "He is trouble. But the act of killing one of ours, regardless of how weak he was, is unforgivable. Now that its just the two of us against him, killing him should be even quicker."

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes upon hearing that, yet to lower his blade, "It isn't just me though."

Nobiru raised an eyebrow, "You might've been busy getting dragged around to see it, but your friend has long drowned by no-" He never finished that sentence as the ground behind him burst open and the feral looking Demon Slayer dragged his way out of, breathing heavily as he did so while glaring daggers at the two demons. "…why, aren't you two full of surprises?"

The swordsman would turn to look briefly at his fellow Demon Slayer, "Hey, you," He called out to the scarred boy, who in turn looked up at him, "Fighting together isn't working as well as I expected. Our best chance now is to separate and take them on individually. I'll trust you with the fire breather while I deal with the other one. Once I'm done with him, I'll move out to help you."

The scarred boy lowered his gaze, and Hinomaru narrowed his eyes, while Nobiru just laughed, "That so? You really think you can throw some orders and tell us the way this fight'll go?" The elastic demon scoffed, "That other guy barely even listens to you, what makes you think you can just dictate the flow of battle like you're some hot shot?"

Tanjiro ignored his words completely, instead moving at the demon with his katana already thrusting at his face, to which Nobiru barely dodged and ended up with a gash on the side of his face cutting through his ear. He pushed on further with his sword swings, forcing the elastic demon to back up and eventually jump up into a nearby rooftop to avoid Tanjiro, only to simply be followed by the very same.

"Nobiru!" Hinomaru called out, taking a deep breath and preparing to aid his ally with another fireball, only for him to be cut deeply across the face just as he prepared to release it, causing the flames to burst out wildly from his open cheek and explode in his face as he hurriedly backed away form the scarred Demon Slayer as he continued swinging his sword at him.

Meanwhile, Nobiru and Tanjiro continued in their game of cat and mouse, with the latter chasing after the former vehemently over the rooftop, forcing him back and away from Hinomaru. The demon tried fending his opponent off by swinging around his arms, whipping them at him, but he'd only dodge without ever opening too much distance and keeping his swings at Nobiru going, never letting him get too far away and get the chance to return to his ally.

The elastic demon would leap over to another rooftop with the pursuing human always close in tow. Even with the quick knockback of his arms retracting, it was never enough to get rid of the Demon Slayer as he'd just see the attacks incoming when he stretched his arms and dodge them before they were even thrown. All the while, Nobiru would be accumulating his wounds from Tanjiro's failed decapitation attempts, cut across the face, chest and neck, his regeneration and dodging were both working overtime to respectfully repair and prevent the damage dealt by the boy's nichirin blade. It was evident that while he might've been a manageable opponent on a three on one or even a two on one disadvantage, he was not nearly as easily handled in a one on one situation, exemplified perfectly by his switch from defense to offense in the two battles.

Finally, after the chase dragged out through several rooftops, Tanjiro would slash off Nobiru's arm as he grabbed onto a ledge, causing the demon to crash onto a roof rather roughly, while the Demon Slayer landed more smoothly, and moved in at him with his blade at the ready. The demon tried extending his remaining arm to push back the approaching human, but would be surprised as Tanjiro reversed the grip on his blade and stabbed it upwards through his palm, spinning to the side and dragging his stabbed arm with it before tearing the blade out of his hand arm and completing his spin by cutting through the air aimed for Nobiru's open neck. It would've been a perfect decapitation hadn't a hand rose over the demon's shoulder and suddenly caught the blade by closing into a fist around its edge near the tip.

"You should be more careful, Nobiru." The figure now standing behind him advised while holding the blade. "I can't be there to save your neck every time…"

The smell would just then hit him, and Tanjiro widened his eyes in surprise. Nobiru, though surprised too, wouldn't lose his chance, and push kicked the shocked Demon Slayer in the chest, tossing him across the roof and dragging his blade with him.

"_That smell…_" Tanjiro thought, groaning as he struggled in rising again, "_…that's the one. It must be him._"

"Buh…boss…" Nobiru stuttered as the smaller figure stepped out form behind him to face the swordsman, He looked about the same age and height as Tanjiro, but had incredibly pale skin, with dark brown hair that was worn swept back but fluffed out on either side of his head and neck, all its tips fading into an orange color. He also wore a white haori with a yellow scale pattern down the sleeves, as well as a white button-up shirt and dark hakama pants. Much like the other members of his gang, the demon had the same tattoo on his face colored black, and his eyes, though both pale-blue, were still mismatched. His left eye, like the normal demon, was almost catlike with the slitted pupil, but his right one held the recognizable kanji symbol that Tanjiro had already seen once, only crossed out since its former bearer no longer held the rank.

"Lower Moon Six…" The swordsman muttered cautiously, raising his blade at both demons.

"That I am." The demon said, meeting his glare, "Though I prefer to go by Kamanue, or boss for my underlings."

"Boss…" Nobiru said quietly behind him, healing from his injuries, "That guy killed Ryusa. He and his friend separated me from Hinomaru and nearly managed to put me out."

"I saw as much." Kamanue said, and turned his cold gaze to the other demon briefly, "I am disappointed in you, Nobiru. Tetsuki Gang's second strongest demon shouldn't be as much of a weakling to be taken out so easily by a…" He stopped for a moment and looked to the Slayer across the roof, "Boy, what rank in the Demon Slayer association are you?"

"My…rank?" Tanjiro raised an eyebrow, "I guess…since I joined so recently I'm still a Mizunoto but…"

Kamanue narrowed his eyes, "A Mizunoto. The lowest of ranks. This just adds to my disappointment, Nobiru. We'll deal with that once this is all over, but I'll take this from here." Nobiru swallowed drily, but nodded and remained silent, looking down. It was odd for Tanjiro, how subservient the first demon was to his superior, but he could still understand from smell alone that this was by far the strongest demon he'd run into so far. A Demon Moon. The lowest of the Lower Moons, but a Demon Moon nonetheless. A different creature entirely from a normal demon, or so he'd been told. He'd have to approach this with extreme caution.

As if reading onto his thoughts, the demon then said, "I like to inform all Demon Slayers that I dispose that I like to keep a close count on every single one of you I killed in my thirty years as a demon. One hundred and twenty six, exactly. Twenty two Mizunoto, nineteen Mizunoe, sixteen Kanoto, seventeen Kanoe, fourteen Tsuchinoto, twelve Tsuchinoe, ten Hinoto, nine Hinoe, five Kinoto and two Kinoe." He recounted, leaving the Demon Slayer fuming silently at the ridiculous numbers this lower moon was giving him. It sickened him to see those monsters boasting about the number of people they'd killed and counting it like a hobby. It had done so with the Hand Demon, and it did so now with Kamanue. "I was hoping to waste my time with something better than a mere Mizunoto, but you hurt one of the demons under my protection, so there's really nothing I can do…"

"I'm not afraid of you, demon." Tanjiro snarled, his tone not bothering to hide his loathing for the creature before him, "And if nothing else, I'm glad you bothered to flaunt all those lives you took in my face. I might not have known any of them, but I'll avenge every single one when this blade chops off your head tonight." He told him, reusing his words from the Final Selection, and meaning them just as much this time as he had the last time.

Kamanue narrowed his mismatched eyes hearing that, some amusement showing in his mark, "Is that so…? Well…lets see if your bite matches that loud barking of yours…"

* * *

Zenitsu had never intended to get involved in this whole mess. Hell, he barely ever intended to become a Demon Slayer in the first place. It all started with the whole mess with running off with that one girl, Hiyori, and one thing had led to another, thus leaving him full of debt, and thus leaving Gramps to save him. Gramps was the one who paid off his debts and took him in, tried to teach him the Breath of Thunder…that hadn't worked all that well, as Zenitsu had only gotten down one technique, but Gramps insisted he was strong enough and sent him off to the Final Selection. Somehow, he'd survived both that and the numerous demonic encounters that followed, not that he remembered much about that. Those memories all seemed…very hazy to him for some reason.

Regardless, as he ran the roads of Kaigara following the white crow leading the way, his mind was left racing as well, "_Oh, man….oh man, oh man, oh man! Is this crow taking me to the demons? I'm not ready for a fight! Maybe…maybe Tanjiro managed to kill them all and I won't have to fight…yeah, that guy is super strong, that's exactly what must've happened!_" He tried to convince himself in a panic only to suddenly stop as he turned a left into a main road and his advanced hearing caught onto something.

Zenitsu always had an unusually sensitive ear, able to pick up on distant sounds and discern them even amidst loud noises. What he had just heard though alarmed him, enough for him to suddenly stop dead on his tracks as the crow flew on ahead. The sound he had just heard was that of several people screaming, and soon after, they would come into view at the end of a road. A whole crowd, running down the road, many screaming hysterically. Zenitsu remained rooted in place as the panicked people ran right past him, and while they did, his acute hearing would pick up on their individual cries as they moved by.

"C'mon, we gotta keep moving! Things are way to chaotic downtown!" One male voice said in a panic.

"I still can't believe it…one of them was swinging those arms around like ropes, and the other was spitting fire! Both seemed to be fighting this kid with a katana!" Another claimed in disbelief.

"I saw it with my own eyes…he just pulled this girl to the side and just snapped her neck…it was horrible…" A female one sobbed out.

These just kept coming, painting a fairly detailed picture to Zenitsu what awaited for him just ahead, causing him to freeze up even further. He looked up and briefly saw Tanjiro's white crow circling just above him, clearly waiting impatiently to lead him back to its master. With that in mind, the blond Demon Slayer immediately turned heel and ran in the opposite direction down the road, mixing into the fleeing crowd rather quickly.

"_No way! There's no way I'm gonna go that way! I'll be killed! Killed, I tell you! I can't die like this, I haven't even gotten a girlfriend to mourn for me yet!_" He cried out mentally as he ran, and he'd indeed keep on running for a good while, motivated by the fearful cries of the fleeing crowd. Until, that is, his hearing would have him catch onto a different voice, that of a child, "Mommy! We gotta go back in there!" A little girl sobbed out, "Mommy is still in there!"

Zenitsu suddenly stopped, and tried to locate the direction of the voice. As it turns out, it wouldn't be too hard, as a brown haired girl no older than five carried in the arms of a man that looked to be her father ran right past him, and his gaze followed, "We can't, sweetheart…" He would hear the father say as he ran, trying to hold up some composure, but his voice alone gave away how utterly broken he felt, "She was inside when the building collapsed…mommy…mommy is gone…"

He would stand there, once again stuck in his spot, only moving from the constant bumping and shoving from his place in the middle of the panicked crowd. He could only watched, transfixed at the scene of a little girl crying on her father's arms as they ran away, until they disappeared from his sight altogether. "_All this panic…all of this…these demons are ruining people's lives…_" He thought, the weight of the situation finally starting to dawn on him, "_This…this can't go on. Things can't go on like this! How come is no one stopping these bastards?!_"

Zenitsu's aggravation would come to a halt when he seemed to look down and notice the katana and Demon Slayer uniform, "_…oh, right._" He somberly realized, "_Its me. I'm the Demon Slayer…Tanjiro might be strong, but with all those demons…still, what can a weakling like me even do to help in a situation like this…?_"

"_You're stronger than you think, Zenitsu._" He recalled then Tanjiro saying to him, and his eyes widened. A spark seemed to ignite inside Zenitsu, as his feet started moving in the direction opposite of the fleeing crowd in a walk, then a stride, then an outright run. Soon enough the white crow would fly down beside him then, leading the way to its master and the battle ahead.

"_WhatamIdoing? WhatamIdoing? WhatamIdoing?_" Were the mumbled, desperate words running through his head at the moment. But even if his brain insisted he would stop, his body wouldn't obey. Somewhere in him, a deep sense of guilt had suddenly awoken, one even overwhelming the fear he'd felt. Guilt of being such a coward, of running in the opposite direction, of leaving the friend he'd just made, who trusted in him despite all his shortcomings, just there to die. He couldn't. Not today. It was his responsibility as a Demon Slayer.

As he ran towards the battle, he'd notice signs of destruction around him. Burning and destroyed buildings, collapsed roofs and general chaos surrounded him, those who had been present for it long evacuated, assuming they were not caught in the damage. Regardless, this did augment Zenitsu's fear, but was not yet enough to sway him as he continued chasing the crow back into the narrow streets, and then over to the rooftops. After enough chasing, he'd finally begin to hear the familiar voice the crow had been leading him back to.

"…if nothing else, I'm glad you bothered to flaunt all those lives you took in my face. I might not have known any of them, but I'll avenge every single one when this blade chops off your head tonight." He would hear Tanjiro saying, before a stifled snark from someone he definitely did not know would sound out in response to him.

"Is that so…?" The new voice asked amusedly, "Well…lets see if your bite matches that loud barking of yours…"

Zenitsu swallowed dryly upon hearing the interaction between Tanjiro and what was very clearly a demon, but now he was too close to back down, and kept going regardless, jumping over a rooftop and landing right behind his fellow Demon Slayer, "Tanjiro," He called out, before hesitantly adding, "I'm….I'm here to help…"

"Stay back, Zenitsu." He would say without even turning back to greet his ally, which is when he would take notice of the two figures standing across the roof from them. The two were very obviously demons, both very pale and both very human-looking, with the same face markings differed only by color. There was the taller, red haired one with a matching kimono that had been mostly burnt off at his top, and the red tattoo in the back. Then there was the smaller one, with the white and yellow haori and weird hair, his tattoo colored black. This one stood in the front.

"Are these…part of that demon gang you mentioned…?" Zenitsu nervously inquired,

Tanjiro nodded, "Yeah…they might look like humans, but don't be fooled." He warned, "The one in the front is an actual Lower Moon."

"…a…a what now…?" Zenitsu said, the fear he'd briefly overwhelmed seeming to return as he only stared at the other boy in shock, "You…you didn't tell me…there was gonna be a Demon Moon involved…"

"…yeah, honestly, I thought you wouldn't agree to this if I did." Tanjiro admitted somewhat sheepishly then, while Zenitsu only stared at him with a silent expression that could only mean 'you bastard', not that the swordsman paid much attention to that, "Either way, stand back for now. I gotta measure up just how strong this guy really is."

"Well? Are we going to start?" The Demon Moon then asked, still obviously amused at all this, "You both can try coming at me if you will, I don't mind. Two small fries for the price of one, if anything."

"That won't be necessary." Tanjiro said, his blade lowered at his side in a single handed grip, "I think you'll be surprised enough by me already."

Zenitsu could only watch as both Demon Moon and Demon Slayer stepped forward, walking away from the allies standing at their backs. He would notice the somewhat nervous look the red haired demon that had been left standing there while looking at Tanjiro, but couldn't make much of it besides that. Soon though, both of them would come to a stop in the middle of the rooftop, facing one another with some fifteen feet between them. The wind would blow, but neither would move as they faced down each other, the red-clad swordsman staring down at his opponent imposingly while the white-clad demon matched his gaze with a look of confidence. Then, Tanjiro would twist his blade pointing forward and all hell broke loose.

Both of them moved in a blur, making it hard for Zenitsu to even follow the clash. He had a rough idea of what they were and what was happening by the sound of their movements, but couldn't hope to accurately follow it with his eyes alone. At one moment, he'd hear Tanjiro's blade cutting through the air, then the demon retaliating with a blow of his own, and a constant stream of footsteps in between those. They would move across the rooftop, breaking off several tiles at a time and spreading cracks around the roof, but despite it all, neither seemed to land a proper blow on one another, until he heard the sound of a blade cutting into something and the two would come to a halt, not far from their initial positions.

"Not bad….not bad at all…" The demon moon said with a grin, raising his left hand to reveal his missing little finger, which proceeded to regenerate within moments, "You truly are more than what your rank promises…"

"_That…that was insane!_" Zenitsu exclaimed mentally, flabbergasted by the display before him. "_The only Demon Slayer I've ever seen move that fast was Gramps himself! Not even Kaigaku could match up to that! Tanjiro is even stronger than I thought! But…_" He noticed then that, though ever so slightly, Tanjiro was panting. He'd probably pushed his breath near its limits to clash head on with the demon like that. "_…can he really win against this Demon moon __ fighting like this?_" He thought worriedly.

"Zenitsu," Tanjiro then called him out, to which said boy looked up just as his friend glanced at him from over his shoulder, "this guy…I can tell already, he's gonna be a lot of trouble. I'm not sure if I'll be able to beat him as is, but I know for a fact I will never be able to go in for the kill with that other demon nearby. I know its a tough thing to ask, but…you're gotta have to be the one to handle him for me."

"Uh…me?" Zenitsu asked meekly. He knew this moment was coming, he'd ran all the way here for this, but now that it was here, right in front of him…well, it was easy to feel the pressure.

"Oh, interesting!" The Demon Moon then exclaimed, seeming to surprisingly enough like Tanjiro's suggestion. "That other Demon Slayer is already fighting Hinomaru somewhere, so we might as well make it a game. Nobiru, take care of that Demon Slayer with the yellow haori, I'll deal with the red one."

The demon, Nobiru, turned his gaze then at his target, and looked at him with murder in his eyes, "Yes, boss."

Though internally panicking at the moment, Zenitsu could only stare back in shock, starting to think of stuff he should've written out in that mandatory will of his the Corps had him write, "Zenitsu, listen to me." Tanjiro called, snapping him out of it and causing his focus to return, "You can do this. I know you can. I meant what I told you, you know? But you'll never become a great Demon Slayer if you just live in fear all the time. I can't do all this alone, Zenitsu. I need your help. Please."

The look in his face and the direness of those words somehow got to Zenitsu, somewhat reinvigorating the still hesitant Demon Slayer, "…alright, I'll try my best." He promised, which seemed satisfactory enough for Tanjiro as he turned his attention back to the Demon Moon.

"Well, get moving then." The demon in turn ordered his underling, "Take him somewhere that won't interfere with my fun."

"Yes, boss." Nobiru said quietly, before leaping off the rooftop. Zenitsu would in turn look briefly at Tanjiro in worry, but would receive a reassuring smile and a nod, which caused him to sigh, but follow after the demon he'd been told to slay. As he distanced himself alongside Nobiru, he'd hear the two opponents once again.

"Well, are you ready to continue then?" The Demon Moon asked.

"Make your move and see." Tanjiro responded coldly, to which his opponent chuckled, and the sounds of fighting would resume behind him.

**A/N: Well, first chapter of 2020. Happy New Years, my dear readers.**

**You know, the longer I write this story the more I realize I suck at managing when a chapter starts and when it ends. I often overshoot it by quite a bit and it ends up getting oversized. This chapter, I intended to also add both the entirety of Zenitsu and Genya's fights, but that obviously got pushed with the last one. I also think I kinda suck at coming up at titles for these things most of the times, but the content is still good so whatever. **

**Still, with that in mind, I can promise a kickass next chapter. The best one so far if my ideas translate half as well from thought to paper as I like to think they do. These last two chapters were all leading up to the three one on one fights between the Demon Slayers and these three demons, especially Tanjiro vs Kamanue, so I hope they pay off.**

**Regarding the demons I've been introducing...you guys can probably guess where I took most of my inspiration from. For the record though, Nobiru means stretch in Japanese, and his powers are something in between Mitsuki's from Boruto and Luffy's from One Piece, while Hinomaru is more based around fire release jutsu from Naruto, often released from the mouth and such. His name also means something related to fire, but I can't remember what. **

**On that note, I've been dropping some hints at what Kaminue's Demon Blood Art will turn out to be. I'm curious to see if anyone manages to guess that before I reveal as much.**

**Anyway, thanks for DownwardDive...who promised he'll start posting some reviews here now and then. No pressure, man. **

**Speaking of which, onto the reviews.**

_ST0RMCROWN: This is my favorite demon slayer fanfiction :). Amazing update as always. Also I'm so curious about how you will suprise us with Nezuko._

**You and everyone else, I assume. But thanks for the support, it does mean a lot.**

_Deutzieg: Aaaannddd Genyaboi is here! Behold! Really love the chapter and Genya-Tanjiro's interaction, since Genya is one of my favorite character, I was so hyped when I see him mentioned and appeared, really like it how they started hostile with each other lol. I can see how Tanjirou give zero fuck about tolerance to anyone who don't deserve it (in his opinion), which is Genya in this case. I hope that changes soon, awkward Genya is the best Genya after all, tho I don't mind a bit rivalry here and there._

_And Zenitsu lol, it seems like Zenitsu is Zenitsu and Tanjirou's way to deal with him will always be the same lmao._

_Anyway, good chapter, reaaaallyyyyy looking forward for the next chapter! Good luck and stay safe and healthy Author!_

**Since you like Genya, I hope you liked the little fighting I had him do this chapter. I can promise you he'll have his big moment to shine next chapter though. His relationship with Tanjiro has taken its first steps towards an eventual change this chapter when he agreed to fight together with him, and later even went with his plan. We'll see how this develops once the fighting is said and done.**

**As for Zenitsu...yeah, Zenitsu is Zenitsu, though I like to think I also had him take a big step this chapter by briefly winning over his own cowardice. **

**Anyhow, I await to see what you thought of this chapter.**

_Andi:Wow it's really nice story!_

_I wonder about Nezuko like everyone else too but most of all I think about Tanjiro meeting Giyuu again. Would he hate him? Your Tanjiro is quite OOC but there is no suprise since here he is all on his own and this is very sad :(. I hope that your Tanjiro will become a little brighter in the futer when he makes more friends._

_In all honestly I think it's alright for Tanjiro to hate Giyuu. Even thought he is now a demon slayer he is still 15 yo after all. What Giyuu did was resonable, he saw a demon pinning a human and thought it want to eat him(honestly everyone from his point of view would think the same). Giyuu decision wasn't really wrong but I don't think Tanjiro would see it that way. Well it's not like he would want to kill Giyuu but I think he would visibly really don't like him._

_Good luck with next chapters hope you will update soon!_

**RESPONSE**

_DEMONEZUKO:I was so shocked when I realized this updated because it wasn't updated on archive. Anyway I seriously can't wait to see Nezuko. Is she like being forced to do evil things or is she just going to choose be evil?_

**Yeaaaaah...kinda went to sleep forgetting to update the story on the other side. Oh, well, its long fixed now. It is a habit of mine to always update for this site first though.**

_Guest: I hope Genya doesn't die in this AU_

**Only time will tell that.**

_Guest:_

_GENYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_

**Genya indeed.**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie:_

_Well I was sceptical to this story at first but it's quite nice written. Thought I have one problem. You know that when breath users are using techniques it's not like from their swords fire, water, wind or flowers etc are appearing? Cuz from what you described it it sounds like that. While thanks to breaths they are unnatrally strong those water or fire patterns on their swords are not real. Yorichii blade is orginally red just like Tanjiro blade but when he is fighting it's turning red and wounds from red blades feel for demons as they are burning them but that's all. So Tanjiro techniques shouldn't produce any flames._

_Well about the story, it's sometimes painfull to read Tanjoro being almost without any emotions but I guess that is given since not even a single member of his family survived (at least he thinks so). But I hope that in time he will open himself to another people. :(_

_Liked Kanao scene too, I know that you don't intend to focus on romance here and I agree to that but I still hope that there will be some scenes with them. I really hope that soon the trio will get together too. So I am guessing that Kamanue will die here and probably Nezuko will get his place as lower moon six :p. Can't wait for more it's very good story, one of the better kimetsu no yaiba AU on this page, you can be proud of this._

**Regarding the issue you mentioned**,** another reviewer mentioned this once before. I'll quote that to make my job a bit easier on the fingers. So, ****I imagine you're refering to the Breath of the Sun flames burning the Susamaru's bouncy balls like that. Well, fair point, the flames are not physical, but the temari also aren't actual normal balls, they appear out of thin air, bounce around and are thrown with the force of a cannon behind it. At least for how this story makes it work, similarly to how it can negate a demon's regeneration, the Breath of the Sun can also negates their blood arts. I'm not trying to provide a canon explanation as much as trying to explain how I will have it work in this story, but for me its the same as Tanjiro burning through Rui's strings after failing to cut them with the Breath of Water. On retrospect, its more my fault than anything for not clarifying that in-story when I had the chance, but I intend to return to that specific point when it becomes relevant again**

**I wouldn't describe Tanjiro as...well, emotionless, but rather more reserved. Not as outgoing, not as happy, not as hopeful, but by no means without feelings. You're right though in that the only way this can be rectified is by allowing himself to become close to other people again, which I imagine would be a hard process after he lost pre****tty much everyone else that mattered to him.**

**As for reuniting the trio or Lower Moon 6...well, I can't outright agree or deny either of those, but they're good guesses if nothing else. Kanao and Tanjiro will also have their given time, but a slow burn is a slow burn. Both are very far from any emotional state that would allow for a romantic relationship to bloom at this point in time, but we'll start with working on that.**

**Lastly...thanks. I am proud of this story. I hope to see more of your reviews in the future.**

_Mukuro1796:_

_This chapter was interesting, the interaction between Tanjirou and Zenitsu was a good start in their friendship, everybody knows that Zenitsu lack of confidence one of the mayor issues he have, I hope he can get above of it with the time. Tenya I suppose will be a little more difficult since his backstory, I look forward to see (or read) how they are going to face the demons, one on one or in teamwork._  
_For last I hope you get Merry Chrismas and a Happy New Year!_

**Yeah, I always liked Zenitsu and Tanjiro's friendship, ever since that scene with Nezuko's box. I can't do anything too similar here for obvious reasons, but I'm comfortable with the different path I'm taking so far. Genya...well, we'll see how I handle Genya. You have your answer though: First together, then separated. Can't wait to start writting the one on one's for next chapter.**

_Arkham Knight:_

_Tanjiro meets Zenitsu. Really like how he is still kind when needed, their friendship is one of great things about the manga. Genya is put in his place again and shows how little patience Tanjiro has with him. So many interactions different but still in character. Great job in this chapter. The more we get into the story and see Tanjiro perspective makes me wonder how he will react when he meets Giyu._

**Its always interesting to put someone practically out of canon against this completely changed Tanjiro and see how it flows. Now that I'm done with doing so with the Senses, its time to start on the Pillars. You're right to be expectant of his meeting of Giyu though. I think it'll be the most interesting of all of them, to be honest.**

**Those were the reviews. Leave one there as well if you haven't favorited and followed, which you also should, but if you have already, its really my only way to know if you're even enjoying what I write, so it matters, like, a lot. Unless you want me to stop writting this story. So yeah, again, no pressure.**

**I kid. But I do really care.**

**Sky signing out.**


	9. Flesh and Lightning

The scarred boy ran desperately through the alley, panting heavily. Upon reaching its end, he'd dive to the side, and narrowly evade the large fireball that exploded out of the alley just after him. He groaned on the ground and stared at the flames as a tall figure walked through them. Hinomaru, the fire breathing demon, emerged from his own flames, glaring down the Demon Slayer before him with loathing grey eyes. "I told you already, boy…its useless to run. It'll only serve to prolong the inevitable."

"Oh, shut up, you bald prick!" The human would groan out, rising to charge after the demon with his short blade, but forced to duck at a quick fireball released by him. He'd try and swing his sword but would be unable to as Hinomaru's fist proved faster, slamming in his chest with enough power to be sent sprawling back a great distance.

"Running might be useless, but fighting me head-on isn't much of a smart decision either." He pointed out, walking towards the downed boy, "Your best option is to honestly just lie down and accept your fate."

"Fuck fate!" The Demon Slayer roared, rising while swinging his sword for the demon's neck, who in turn just backed away to dodge it. He'd continue hacking at his taller foe, but his swings were wide and premeditated, given only the bare minimum of technique. Predicting and dodging them was no trouble, especially for a faster fighter.

"You sure are persistent," The demon calmly noted before he took a hold of the boy's sword arm mid-swing, and rammed a fist into his gut before he could do anything about it, "but not all that smart, it seems." He let go of the boy and kicked him, sending him sprawling across the road.

Much to Hinomaru's surprise, even after being hit once again with superhuman power behind, the human persisted, still trying to pathetically rise to his feet. It made no sense, really. That first punch alone should be enough to crack most of a normal human's ribs. And yet, even with the beating he'd been taking, this boy continued to rise again and again. He was indeed a persistent one. Weak, dumb, pathetic, disgusting even, but undoubtedly persistent.

"Annoying human…" Hinomaru muttered as the Demon Slayer stood once again, clasping his hands together and breathing in before releasing another fireball aiming at him. The boy widened his eyes, and hit the ground quickly, narrowly avoiding the fireball flying over him. He rose back up quickly, and dashed in towards his target, thrusting the nichirin sword at the demon, only for him to intercept it by having the blade puncture through his palm and grabbing onto the Slayer's hand from over his hilt, while another hand shot out to grasp onto the human's neck.

Hinomaru held the boy up by his neck, slowly choking the life out of him. The boss himself had advised them many times to always target a demon's slayer's neck. Without it, they couldn't breathe, and if they couldn't breathe, they were as vulnerable as any human. Somehow though he didn't anticipate the choking boy to reach out behind him and draw his gun, pressing against his attacker's forearm and pulling the trigger. Hinomaru's arm was blasted apart, hand and wrist falling to the ground as most of his left forearm was blasted right off. What confused him though was that the human hadn't targeted the arm used in choking him, but rather the other one with a hand impaled by the katana. Regardless, in his surprise, he would let go of the human, but would nonetheless quickly retaliate by kicking the Demon Slayer away to him without holding back, sending him flying well down the street, hitting the ground roughly as he went.

"Damn gun…forgot about that thing," Hinomaru grunted out, staring at the blasted off arm, the missing hand gone with the boy he'd just kicked. Sighing in annoyance, he began walking down the road after the Demon Slayer as his arm regenerated. Knowing the human's persistence, he might have survived that one as well. Nonetheless, if he did, Hinomaru felt the tenacious bastard had annoyed him enough to warrant some pain before he did meet his end.

As he walked, the demon would realize that the road they had been fighting in led into one of the city's piers and that the boy was lying right where the road ended and the pier began, with his back facing the demon. He was definitely alive though, as he could see him moving ever so slightly and shuffling about, probably writhing in pain from all the broken bones in his body. Smirking knowing he'd have the satisfaction to make him hurt a bit, Hinomaru would make his way up to the Demon Slayer, "I guess I kicked you a bit too hard. I was afraid for a second I'd killed you before making you suffer for that hand you took…"

Hinomaru stopped right beside the downed human and raised his foot over his head before bringing it down aiming to crack his skull into the ground and make him hurt. What he didn't expect was the boy's hand rising as well, stopping his foot from crushing his head with an open palm, and he turned to glance over his shoulder at the demon. That was when Hinomaru noticed the blood around the Slayer's mouth and the downright murderous glare in his eyes, too wild to even be called a human's.

With an unexpected burst of strength, the downed boy would push Hinomaru's foot away from him, and cause the demon to lose balance and fall to the ground. He'd get up quickly, but not quickly enough, as the boy was already upon him. Despite all logic dictating the human's body would have been broken by then, he was now fighting back with even more ferocity and strength than before. Hinomaru would narrowly dodge a fatal blow from the Demon Slayer that instead left a deep gash across his chest. The boy would move in for his neck again, but have his arm caught again mid-swing by the demon, instead this time it wasn't as easy to stop the blow, which ended up actually cutting a quarter of a way into Hinomaru's neck before he managed to stop it. With his free hand, he would aim a punch at the human, only to have it caught by the human's free hand with notable difficulty, the psychotic look in his eyes matching his blood-smeared shit-eating grin. And even though Hinomaru would manage to knee him in the stomach with about as much force as that first kick, the boy would only skid away a mere twenty feet after taking, not even falling off his feet in the process.

"_This makes no sense…! He should be on the ground dying, and yet he just got up even stronger than before!_" Hinomaru thought angrily, not fully comprehending what had happened until he looked at the blood on the human's face, and just then noticed there as something odd about it. He was a demon though, and he could recognize it. That…wasn't human blood. It was just then that it all seemed to dawn on him, "You…you ate my arm…didn't you..?!" He asked, looking at the boy in shock, "You're no human…just what the hell are you?!"

"My name is Genya Shinazugawa…" The Demon Slayer finally introduced himself, raising his blade at the demon with a grin so wide it twisted the scars in his face, "And I'm the motherfucker who's gonna slay your ass…!" '

Hinomaru snarled, clasping his hands together, "I don't care what or who you are, I'm gonna burn you up all the same!" He declared, breathing in deeply and blasting a large fireball at Genya, one even larger than the usual big ones he'd blown out so far. The Demon Slayer would move to the side to try and dodge the flames, but would unable to do so fully and just about half his body was consumed by the flames. Regardless, he'd rushed through, patting down the fire in his yukata while closing distance with Hinomaru before he could blow out another fireball, the burns he'd gained from the fire already healing.

Genya would slash at the demon, but without the element of surprise, it was harder to land a blow on him. Despite his enhancement, he still fell short of Hinomaru's own strength, demonstrated when, after dodging a couple of swings, the demon stopped his slashing by intercepting his sword-wielding arm with his own unarmed one, pushing it to the side to open the human's guard before landing a blow to the boy's throat with enough strength to crush his windpipe. Genya suddenly choked, unable to breathe in, and backed away in a panic, hacking at Hinomaru in desperation. This careless swing was what the demon had been waiting for, as, with one calculated blow to the boy's sword arm, he was able to dislocate Genya's wrist and disarm him off his sword, sending the blade flying over his shoulder. Shocked, the Demon Slayer nonetheless tried to go for a punch, only to have the demon grab his arm once again mid-swing and, with a painful twist of his hand, break it.

The demon would inhale deeply once again, which Genya quickly realized meant another fireball would be coming and dodging it would be no easy task while Hinomaru had a grip on his broken arm. Desperately, his free hand would lash out, grabbing Hinomaru by the chin and pushing his head up just as he released the flames, causing the stream leaving his mouth and miss Genya and instead be released up into the air. The demon would try to fight against his desperate grasp and lower his head as to bathe the Demon Slayer in his flames, but proved unable to do so with Genya's persistence. Frustrated, he halted the fire from his mouth, and instead chose to slam down a fist on the side of the human's head, knocking him down to the ground.

Upon being punched down, Genya would land on all four and further hurting his broken arm, causing a groan of pain from him. He was unable to move much further as he was suddenly grabbed by the hair and raised to chest level, before being repeatedly punched in the face by an aggravated Hinomaru, breaking his nose for the second time in a day and leaving him with a black eye, not to mention all the blood, and that was before the grip on his hair was released and he stumbled for a moment before being kneed in the gut and send sprawling to the ground again, this time face first.

Hinomaru wasted no time wasted no time in moving at the Demon Slayer, having been fighting him long enough to know that if he was left be, the bastard would find away to get back up. He moved in to crush the boy's spine with his foot while he was still facing the ground, but Genya rolled to the side at the last moment, causing his blow to miss. As he did so, the scarred boy would swing his arm and throw a handful of dust gathered while he was down at the demon's face, getting it into his eyes and blinding him. He would try and throw a blind blow, but Genya rose quickly and wove through it. Despite not having his sword and a broken arm, he still had another trick up his sleeve, as he dove in right for Hinomaru's throat like a wild animal, and sunk his teeth into the demon's neck, tearing a chunk out of it with before rising and headbutting his foe to return the favor and break his own nose.

Startled, Hinomaru would stumble back, managing to clear the dust off his eyes and regain his vision, but still unable to breathe due to the healing wound on his neck. Genya was giving him no time to sit around either, having swallowed the chunk he'd bit off the demon whole and moving in with renewed vigor, "I noticed you always took those deep breaths before spitting out your fire, which means if you can't breathe properly, you can't use hide behind those fireballs anymore, isn't that right?!" He asked smugly, reaching out into his yukata as Hinomaru mentally cursed, raising his guard and throwing another punch at the rushing Demon Slayer, who used his boost in speed and the demon's disorientation to dodge enough so the blow would only graze his face, all the while drawing his gun, cocking its hammer and pressing his finger against the trigger, "Now eat this, fuckface!"

"_Shit!_" Hinomaru cursed, moving his other hand upwards to try and knock the gun away from his face, but the boy pulled the trigger and the gun's barrel exploded onto his face. There was a moment of silence that followed as the demon cocked his head back, his whole body seeming to go limp...before he regained his footing and his fist rose against Genya's chin, uppercutting the young man some thirty feet up into the air, before crashing down onto the pier's wooden floor only half-conscious, not to mention having let go of his gun and thus been left fully unarmed after the powerful blow. "I have to admit...I really thought you'd got me for a moment…hadn't I knocked that gun just slightly off aim before you shot, this attack might have been my undoing." Hinomaru confessed as he walked up to the Demon Slayer once again, though making sure to keep his distance. His left temple and most of the upper left corner of his head had been blown off, alongside a lot of the skin around that part, exposing his quickly healing skull and even some of his brain, as well as leaving him without his left eyelid. That all said though, was already quickly healing, "I won't make the mistake of underestimating you again, boy...I don't care if I burn down this whole town, this time, you'll stay down for good." He clapped his palms then and started breathing deeply once again, though this time a lot more slowly, his nostrils expanding as he filled his lungs with as much air as he could.

The dazed Genya meanwhile struggled to rise after that last blow but would manage to look up in his dizzied state, and see that on the floor of the pier between himself and Hinomaru was his katana, just lying there. Stumbling, he'd try to run towards him, to which the demon made no attempts to stop him, as he knew that even if the boy got to his blade, after what he was about to unleash, he wouldn't get the chance to attack. Sure enough, just as Genya reached his blade, and moved to get it, Hinomaru finished preparations for his technique, and unleashed it towards the human, "Demon Blood Art: Dragon's Breath!" He announced, before expelling a focused inferno from his mouth, that quickly consumed not only Genya but a great deal of the pier behind him, setting multiple buildings ablaze. And not only that, but the fire became quickly hotter and hotter, turning from red, to orange, to blue as they became more and more focused, "_Goodbye Demon Slayer...if nothing else, you were a persistent adversary._"

However, in his confidence of the Demon Slayer's extermination, Hinomaru wouldn't notice the shadow emerging from the flames until it was a moment too late, as Genya Shinazugawa burst out of the stream of flames with both his arms crossed in front of his face and charred with blackened burns. As were his face and legs, as well other parts of his body not fully protected by the flame resistant Demon Slayer uniform. Both his yukata and hair were on fire, but he didn't care, as he lowered his arms to reveal the katana being tightly gripped by his teeth, wielded in his mouth. Hinomaru had barely any time to react as Genya rushed right into him, twisting his neck as his blade connected with the demon's neck to cease his flames and fully decapitate him once and for all.'

Hinomaru's body fell to the ground limply, while his head flew across the air with a shocked expression stamped on it, while Genya stumbled from his rush and fell on his knees, before collapsing on all fours, letting go of his sword as he breathed heavily. Despite the wounds he'd gained from the demon and his flames still making it clear how pained he was, they had already began healing slowly. Hinomaru's decapitated head could only watch on the side in shock as he quickly began disintegrating, "_He….he beat me._" He slowly realized, "_This pathetic Demon Slayer, who can't use a single breathing technique, who can only fight from stolen power through his dirty methods…and I lost to him._" Silently, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "_I guess that must mean I'm quite pathetic myself, after all…I'm sorry…Nobiru…_"

With that last thought, his remains would turn to ash, and the fire breathing demon faded away.

* * *

Genya Shinazugawa always had a great deal of pain resistance, even before he started eating demon flesh after realizing he couldn't use breathing techniques like other Demon Slayers, and thus underwent the painful process of adapting to the demonic traits he took. That said, being bathed in intensely hot flames was no cakewalk either, and as he stumbled his way through the streets, the demon flesh he consumed slowly working on healing his injuries, he couldn't help but to think he nearly bit off more than he could chew there…somewhat literally, surprisingly enough, seeing as he actually bit the demon, not to mention headbutting him, which was a page he was ashamed to have taken from that red-clad fucker's book. Still, he'd bet the entire fight on getting close and using his last two bullets to blow the demon's head open, but once that missed, all left him was the desperate move of running through the flames wielding the sword with his teeth. A crazy, very much improvised, plan b…but luckily one that had worked.

However, he still had no time to waste, and dragged his burned body away from the ashes of the demon and the burning pier behind him. He had to go back, help that other Demon Slayer. Kid might've been a prick, but he wouldn't let the bastard die fighting those demons, nor take all the glory for beating the boss of these bastards. And he did try, but wouldn't get too far as, soon after he left the main road through an alley, he'd feel the strength of his strained body fade as he dropped both the empty gun and the sword he'd been dragging with him, collapsing on the side of a wall with a painful groan.

"Dammit…I can barely even move…" He grunted, trying to rise with his previously broken arm, but his muscles were weak, and he collapsed once again, "_I can't stop…not now. If I do, I might never catch up to you…big brother…_" Despite his attempts to cling onto his conscience however, there was little Genya could do, and he passed out slumped against the wall of the alleyway.

* * *

Elsewhere in Kaigara, Zenitsu was still following the demon known as Nobiru, which Tanjiro had told him to kill while he handled a Demon Moon. The whole time he'd followed the demon, a red haired tall young man wearing a red kimono with its upper part burnt off, he could feel the creature's distaste for him. Be it the frustrated mumbling he thought Zenitsu wouldn't hear, or the annoyed glances over his shoulder every now and then as if to see if he was still there. Had it not been the fact that he was fairly certain the demon would just jump in and attack him if he tried fleeing, he would've indeed tried by now. His fear, though constantly reminding him how bad an idea this whole thing was in the first place, made sure he wouldn't do anything to get himself killed too early.

And then, out of nowhere the demon would stop in his tracks and whip around towards him, which unexpectedly elongated itself and struck Zenitsu across the face, violently knocking the blond boy down to the ground, "Alright then, this place looks good enough." Nobiru noted as his extended arm retracted itself, "Let's begin."

Zenitsu groaned as struggled back to his feet, whipping some blood from the corner of his lips in a daze. The demon wasn't playing fair, obviously. The nasty bastard had just wiped around and slapped him across the face. And he did it really hard too. That's not even mentioning those stretchy arms that Tanjiro had warned him NOTHING about…regardless, he'd rise back to his feet, trembling hand wrapping around the hilt of his blade while the other one gripped the scabbard.

Seeing that though, Nobiru raised an eyebrow and opened a cruel smirk, "Oh…so you actually plan on fighting? From what I heard of you, I honestly thought you'd just fall on your knees and beg for your life." He admitted as he started cockily walking towards the boy, "Well, that I wanna see! 'The coward stands his ground'…quite a show, no?"

"Stand back!" Zenitsu warned, trying to sound intimidating, "Or I'll…I'll…"

"You'll what?" Nobiru asked him defiantly, stopping right in front of the boy, and looking down from his superior height intimidatingly on him. Zenitsu averted his gaze and tightened the grip around his katana despite the uncontrollable trembling around it. He tried to draw it, but would feel his arm freeze up, and thus found himself unable to even unsheathe his blade. "I thought so…" The elastic demon scoffed, "I never expected to meet such a pathetic Demon Slayer. What is even a swordsman, if he can't draw his own swo-"

The demon was cut off and forced to move then, backing up quickly and yet still receiving a scratch on the side of his neck that barely drew blood. "Huh…well, who woulda guessed?" He asked, seeing the nervous Zenitsu with his now fully drawn katana beside him, its nichirin blade colored a bright shade of yellow matching his hair and clothes, with a crack-like shape similar to a lightning bolt lining the back of his blade. "I suppose even a complete coward can grow some balls if their survival's on the line."

Zenitsu meanwhile, took a deep breath, still trembling and looking nervous despite managing to draw his blade "_Every muscle in my body is freezing up just from looking at this guy…everything about him tells me I should turn tail and run…and yet…_" He lowered the katana in his trembling hand, and gripped its hilt tightly with both hands to keep the blade still, "_I can't go back on my promise to Tanjiro! If I turn away now, this demon will just keep on hurting people, and that'll all be on me. The cowardly Demon Slayer, the scum who could barely even raise his sword when he was about to die…I can't let that be your legacy, Gramps! I gotta try and be better than this…_" He moved in at the demon raising his blade as he felt sweat running down the side his face, "_Just one blow…just one single good blow to the neck. That's all I need to end this battle…this guy underestimates me, if I can take him by surprise, then maybe, just maybe…_"

The yellow-clad Demon Slayer swung his katana aiming for his foe's neck, and for a second it seemed like it was gonna indeed land and get him an easy win, but this was just a rouse as Nobiru waited until the last second to move back and narrowly dodge the blade. Zenitsu though didn't give up, swinging it once again, and then again, and so on. But every time its edge was about to make contact with the elastic demon, he'd simply move out of the way while keeping his eyes locked with Zenitsu's, looking right at him just utterly unimpressed. "Not only a coward…" The demon noted as he stepped aside to dodge a vertical swing of the Nichirin blade, "But also quite slow, as it turns out."

Zenitsu grit his teeth, thrusting his blade at the demon's face, only for Nobiru to move ever so slightly to the side as to dodge, extending his arm and wrapping it thrice around the Slayer's own much like a rope, taking a tight grip on the boy's shoulder before retracting it. The result of this was Zenitsu being sent flying into the air with his body spinning uncontrollably, making it hard to make out the direction of the ground until he roughly landed on his side, bouncing off the ground twice over before he reached a stop.

The yellow clad swordsman would crawl onto his knees with difficulty before relieving his stomach from what remained of the ramen he had for dinner earlier. He glanced up briefly and would notice that the sword he'd dropped in his disorientation had fallen on the ground in between himself and the demon, though luckily it was closer to him still. "Oof, how nasty..." Nobiru commented in amusement as the boy looked at him, panting with puke still dripping the corners of his mouth, "If you vomited from that though, I wonder how long it'll be before you piss yourself."

Nobiru swung his arm at Zenitsu, using it as an elongated whip to strike him with a horizontal swing, forcing the Demon Slayer to quickly recompose himself, narrowly dodging by jumping over the arm and moving towards his katana. He'd quickly manage to reach it, but at a price. As soon as he wrapped his hand around the sword's hilt, he'd be knocked back with a punch on the face from Nobiru's other extending arm. The demon obviously knew the swordsman would be going for his sword before anything else, after all.

Zenitsu though, despite all this, still rose fairly quickly, and resumed his dash at the demon before him intently despite the swollen black eye he'd just acquired from the punch "_Focus!_" He told himself while ducking to dodge one of the elongated arms by hearing its movements cutting through the wind. Another one quickly followed as it was used much in the same whip-like way as the others, except by being brought down horizontally and forcing Zenitsu to sidestep it, "_All it takes is one good blow to the neck! That's all you need to win this fight!"_

As he approached his opponent, the swordsman prepared to strike once again, only for Nobiru to suddenly retract his first arm twice as fast as he'd extended it, grabbing Zenitsu by his arm in the process, and whipping around to toss him down the street, at which point he once again bounced off the ground like a ragdoll before coming to a rough landing.

"_I can't believe it..._" The boy grunted, struggling to rise for a second time and collapsing on a knee as he saw his opponent retract both his arms before beginning to walk towards him, "_He's literally just throwing me around...I can't even land a hit on him, let alone chop his head off..." _Grunting, he managed to rise fully, _"Running away isn't an option anymore, since he'd catch me anyway...but there is still one thing even a useless Demon Slayer like me can do...!"_

Zenitsu took a deep breath as he sheathed his blade away, and getting into a stance with his hand at his hilt, to which Nobiru raised an eyebrow as he stopped walking towards the boy, "Oh...for a second there I thought you were giving up, but..not quite." He grinned raising both hands, "This is your last ditch effort, isn't it? Well, go right ahead. Show me what you've got, boy."

Bitting his lower lip, Zenitsu tightened the grip on the hilt of his katana. He knew this was it. If this failed, there was nothing else he could do that would work. It was his one and only move, so it would either save him, or doom him. Either way, it was all he had, "Breath of Thunder," Zenitsu called out as electricity seemed to crackle around him, "First Style: Thunderclap and Flash!"

Zenitsu moved in a burst of speed at his opponent, much faster than he'd done so before, rushing in to draw his blade to decapitate the demon in a single straightforward blow. Except, Nobiru realized that, which was why he extended both arms while one was raised above his head, and the other was lowered, before quickly retracting both with perfect timing and clapping both hands together vertically. Zenitsu's entire momentum was halted as the swing of his blade was caught right in between Nobiru's hands when it was just about a foot away from the demon's neck.

"That's faster." He noted, acknowledging the boy's efforts with a large grin, "But still way too slow." In his shock, Zenitsu wouldn't even notice the Nobiru's extended foot swinging for his side until it made contact, cracking a couple ribs in the process and sending him flying through the wall of a nearby building.

The yellow-clad Demon Slayer grunted in pain as he dragged himself deeper into the house. Despite all the pain from that last blow, he'd refused to let go of his katana. He knew from his black eye that letting go of it was not at all a good idea. Nobiru meanwhile just casually stepped over the rubble as he calmly walked up to the crawling Zenitsu. Desperate, the boy would try and up his pace to get away from his foe, and when that failed, he'd push himself around and try to slash him with his sword.

Nobiru though would easily dodge the blade for what seemed like the umpteenth time, kicking the katana off Zenitsu's grip and over his shoulder, before unhesitantly bringing down a fist on his face to knock him down to the ground, and continuing stomping on him then, to which the disarmed swordsman could nothing but try and protect himself. "You pathetic, weak bastard." The demon muttered while stomping on the human, "Just looking at you pisses me off..."

Zenitsu could only groan in response, but the demon was apparently not satisfied with just that, and dragged him up by his haori, before wrapping a hand around the boy's throat and holding his limp body by it while forcing him to look right at Nobiru. "C'mon now, do something." He demanded, raising the Demon Slayer above his head while holding him by the throat to choke the life out of him, "Or is this really how a coward dies?"

"_No...! Not like this!_" He exclaimed, struggling against Nobiru and the grip on his neck, "_I can't let all that trust Gramps and Tanjiro put on me die like that...I...gotta resist...!_" Zenitsu concluded, while closing his hand into a fist and gathering the little energy he hadn't lost from his breath by being choked, "_I gotta...fight back!_" With a last burst of energy, he'd swing for Nobiru's face with his fist, and make contact head on...not that it made much difference. The demon would only look at him in annoyance after the fist had pushed his face a bit to the side, and tightened his grip on Zenitsu's neck, his complexion starting to go blue from lack of air, "_...who am I fooling? This is all useless...no amount of pep talking myself is gonna get me to beat this demon._ _I'll just die here like the failure I am, I guess. Sorry Tanjiro...I couldn't kill the demon...sorry Gramps...at least Kaigaku's still around to carry your legacy. I wish...I wish I was less of a __deadweight. If I'd been just a bit stronger, maybe I could've beaten this guy...maybe I could've made gramps proud...maybe...I could've even gotten to go all the way with a girl...that would've sure...been something..."  
_

With that last thought, the lack of air caught up to him, and Zenitsu's mind would slip away into the darkness, leaving him unconscious.

* * *

"_Pathetic._" Nobiru repeated to himself as he watched the passed out swordsman, or Zenitsu as the other Slayer had called him, held up by the neck, "_Just pathetic._" Without the least bit of care, he swung his arm and violently tossed him at the wall behind, causing the unconscious body to burst right through it, enshrouded by a cloud of dust and rubble. It was true, the red-clad Slayer had been way too much for him, there was no way to deny as much, but even though he was saved by the boss, he at least expected Kamanue to leave him a bit better of a job than dealing with the weakest of the Demon Slayers. Not that Hinomaru's own brat seemed all that tough, but at least the bastard was ready to fight, this one had to be convinced into even drawing his sword, and once he did, he was atrocious with it. Even fighting, he seemed always scared out of his mind, and every blow he threw was laced with hesitance, readable from a mile away. Even his one decent attack had been completely obvious, to the point where he actually caught the boy's blade mid-swing.

All that said, he'd provided some entertainment to the bored Nobiru, but in the end it was a disappointment nonetheless. For all he expected the boy to have a card hidden up his sleeve, all he did, in the end, was a struggle and fail. It was due time for him to finish off the weakling and go back to Kamanue to report as much. As he walked towards the hole created where he threw Zenitsu however, he'd be surprised to see an outline of the unconscious boy rising to his feet surrounded by dust and rubble. "Well, would you look at that...?" He asked with a grin, "The weakling rises again! Maybe I can take the chance and have a bit more fun with you after all!"

Grinning widely, Nobiru suddenly thrust both arms after Zenitsu, extending them both through the crack in the wall fully intent of pushing the Slayer even further deeper into the house. As his limbs pierced through the raised cloud of dust though, rather than making contact with his target, the shadowed image instead vanished and both his hands struck the solid wall behind it instead with no sign whatsoever of where the blond coward had disappeared to. He had but a second to wander as to what had just happened before pain hit him, and he'd look down to see a massive gash running deeply from his left shoulder all the way down to his waist, very visible across his bare chest, "_W-what? Where did this come from?! When?!_" Then he glanced over his shoulder, and saw it.

Just by the rubble in the first hole he'd been tossed through, Zenitsu stood with his back turned to the demon, the yellow katana he'd earlier dropped shouldered by him as the end his haori flapped about in a gust of wind from outside. It made no sense for Nobiru though. No sense whatsoever. Moments ago, this boy was being kicked around with the utmost ease, completely incapable of landing even a single blow on him. And yet, after being kicked around a bit and getting back up, he'd dodged Nobiru's attack, regained his blade and wounded the demon before he could even realise what had happened.

"What...what did you do...?!" He asked the boy with a trembling voice in between gritted teeth, frustration and anger quickly forming at how nonsensical this whole situation was. And yet, Zenitsu didn't answer at all, only moving his head slightly to the side in acknowledgment of his words, but making no attempt to answer him, which just served to anger the demon further, "Don't you ignore me, you failure!" He exclaimed, violently whipping out both of his arms at him from inside the house, their extended length crashing right through the walls to try and catch the Demon Slayer at his side, only for Zenitsu to backflip over the first blow at the last moment possible moment, and as the second one followed, he'd land with the tip of his foot right on Nobiru's fist and suddenly backflip all the way across the road, just in time to escape from the house collapsing right on top of the demon as his elongated arms finally damaged its structure enough to the point where it could no longer feasibly stand.

Zenitsu would only stand across the street silently, his head lowered with the shadow of his fringe covering his eyes, mouth hanging only slightly open, sword lowered. He didn't react at all when, moment later, the rubble of the collapsed house burst apart, with an infuriated Nobiru making his way out, veins popping in his head as he glared murderously with his orange eyes at the Demon Slayer before him, "I don't know what just happened, but miracles like that only happen once, and I'm done playing around with you, Demon Slayer." He stated vividly, "Its gonna be fun ripping off that head of yours of yours when I'm done with you."

Despite the severity of that threat normally being more than enough to freeze up the boy previously, this time he didn't react at all, just standing there silently, which really served to anger the demon even further, "Stop fucking ignoring me!" He cried out while dashing, both his extended arms already whipping out at the swordsman, at which his ears would perk up before he shifted his footing and suddenly went from his immobile position to flipping in between the two arms with once again flawless timing. He landed and would already move in at the demon, who in turn tried to entangle the boy between his extended limbs, only to fail every time as Zenitsu moved around his arms without ever once touching them, seemingly always a step ahead of his opponent. He'd close distance quickly still, forcing Nobiru to retract his arms in an attempt to catch the human with his guard down, only for him to backflip over both arms before they even reached him.

The Demon Slayer would land some distance away, but still frustrated with the changing tides of the battle, Nobiru would be upon him quickly. Zenitsu would keep his pace though, and even at close-distance dodge the all the swings thrown at him with ease, "_What is up with this guy?! He's fighting like a completely different person!_" The elastic demon thought frustratedly, just before he was forced to dodge as the human snuck in past an opening in his guard and swung in his blade upwards, cutting into Nobiru's face despite him quickly backing away and over his left eye. Still, in that brief moment, ahis uninjured eye would catch a glimpse of Zenitsu's face as the fringe partially obscuring his face was swept to the side briefly in his movement, and his eyed widened when he noticed that his opponent's own were closed, "_His eyes...! Its like...he's still knocked out..._"

The demon wouldn't be able to focus much on his thoughts though as Zenitsu took advantage of the attack landed to move into the offensive, swinging from Nobiru's blind side and forcing the demon to narrowly duck his foe's blade while still backing up. He threw another series of slashes to prevent the his foe from counterattacking, many of which produced gazes and gashes on the demon when he was unable to dodge, but he was in fact biding for time, and after being left with another over his lip from the blade's very tip, he saw that the Demon Slayer had overswung and extended both his arms towards him, aiming to force some distance between them in order to regain control of the battle. What happened instead was Zenitsu jumping over both his arms and landing with a foot on each one of them before swinging down for his neck. Nobiru would only barely be able to jolt his arms upwards and knock him off, causing the slash to miss, the blade instead leaving a deep dent on his neck, but not managing to decapitate him.

The swordsman regardless backflipped and landed on his feet before jumping back and away from him, finally allowing the demon to regains his bearings, "_Is he really out of it...? That would mean this whole time he's been fighting me it's just been him sleepwalking...but that can't be right! The guy's a total coward, how the hell can he have gotten this strong in the first place?!_" He wondered but was once again only a brief moment to ponder as the closed-eyed Zenitsu twirled his blade in his hand before calmly sheathing it back into his scabbard, holding onto it with one hand while the other one gripped the scabbard, a stance Nobiru recognized. "_So he's gonna try that trick again...no matter. Even if he's faster, its just one straightforward dash. I've stopped him before, and I can stop him again! Except this time..._" The elastic demon raised an arm before extending it a far distance behind him, "_...I won't be going easy on him."_

Just as before, Zenitsu would breath in deeply as he lowered his head, "Breath of Thunder...First Style..." He murmured drowsily, lightning seeming to flicker around his form.

_"Here he comes!_" Nobiru thought with teeth gritted, retracting his long elongated arm. The way his Demon Blood Art worked made the retracting of his limbs faster than his extending, that any opponent knew. The secret he kept to himself though was that the longer the arm was, the faster it became once retracted. And with how long he'd extended his arm, well over fifty feet, he'd have enough force to not only intercept the kid, but crush every single bone on his body as he did.

"...Thunderclap and Flash." Zenitsu finished as he moved, leaving only a trail of lightning behind him. Nobiru's eyes widened, as he saw the boy go just fast enough to move under his descending arm and instrinctively twisted his neck back at an impossible angle, saving his life as most of his face, his lips, nose and forehead were sliced cleanly by the katana a moment before his arm even hit the ground, leaving a large crack in it where it had impacted. Zenitsu meanwhile had come to a stop with his blade sheathed in the same position as he'd started, to a less observant eye seeming to have never even drawn it at all, except for the fact that he'd cut a demon's face right off moments ago

"_This guy...there is no way..._" Nobiru thought in complete shock, looking over his shoulder at the still Zenitsu with his mangled face, "_There's no one fast enough to outspeed my retraction...not even Boss...no...there is no way...is this guy __really faster than the boss...?_" As his face regenerated, it would reveal the look of sheer hatred that Nobiru had in his visage while staring at the Demon Slayer's back, "_There is no way...not this guy...not this coward...he can't be higher up than me..._" Finally, something in the demon seemed to snap as he clenched both his fists so hard his nails drew blood from his palms, while veins all around his forehead popped angrily, "...THERE IS NO WAY!"

Nobiru turned around and wrathfully extended both his arms as far as he could before he started whipping them around in Zenitsu's general direction with no regard for everything else other than killing the cursed Demon Slayer. His arms struck the surrounding buildings heavily in their misses, damaging them heavily, as well as leaving notable cracks across the ground when it struck that instead. ...and yet, the boy continued dodging. Regardless of where the arm came from, regardless of how fast it was, he always moved at the last moment and weaved his way past it without even drawing his katana. It was beyond infuriating for Nobiru to see this, it was downright maddening. "JUST DIE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" He cried out angrily as he retracted both arms while spinning around and using the momentum created by that to extend them at blinding speed towards the boy. Yet, even then, it was like he saw the attack coming a mile away, and moved aside, letting the arms instead strike the house behind him with enough force to have the already damaged structure collapse entirely, dragging the two beside it as well.

The result of this was a large cloud of dust that covered the road, causing Nobiru to lose view of his opponent. Retracting both his arms, he looked around frustratingly trying to find the Demon Slayer, but as it turns out, he wouldn't have to search for too long. He turned his head to where he'd heard two sounds, first a slow deep breathing, then the faint crackle of electricity. And then, there was a sudden thunderclap emanated from the source of the sound, and the cloud of dust was broken apart to reveal Zenitsu standing in the same stance as before, except the already impressive aura of electricity he donned before had multiplied by many times, golden bolts of lightning now bursting, dancing and dying out around him, making it feel as if the very air was vibrating. He opened his eyes, ever so slightly, and Nobiru would realize that unlike before, they were now blank without a pupil to be seen.

Despite the aura emanating from the swordsman before him by itself being enough to make his skin crawl, the demon's anger was far too overwhelming to be put a stop to like that, "There you are, you fucker!" He grinned widely while extending both his arms at Zenitsu, who in turn didn't even shift from his stance, and would wait until the arms were over halfway towards him before he even made his move.

"Breath of Thunder...First Style..." The lightning seemed to burst and focus around him like an aura then, "...Thunderclap and Flash...Sixfold." In a moment, Zenitsu had disappeared in a burst of speed, and if it wasn't for the trail of lightning left by his dash, Nobiru would barely notice his movement until he'd already rushed past him and left in his wake a deep cut on the side of his midsection. Something Nobiru, even in his wrathful state, would quickly realize that would've been a blow aimed to separate him from his lower half had he not attacked when he did.

Still furious, he'd quickly whip around to strike Zenitsu with both his arms, but as they were mid-swing, a second bolt of lightning would rush past him, and he'd feel his left arm be unceremoniously chopped off by it. He'd realize then that the Demon Slayer would strike again from behind and tried to intercept him with the quick retraction of his remaining arm, but the third bolt of lightning came and so was his second arm sliced off as well. At this point, Nobiru would truly begin to understand his situation, and fear ironically began to overcome the previous anger. He swerved to the side and received only a cut halfway into his neck when he dodged the fourth bolt of lightning's offense, and quickly realized that if he were to live past this, the only way would be by getting out of his opponent's range.

Putting all strength he could muster into his legs, Nobiru leaped, high into the air, well over where the Demon Slayer and his technique could reach him. That wasn't to say he wouldn't try though, evidenced by when the elastic demon noticed another bolt of lightning bouncing off a rooftop to try and reach him, and though he quickly realized it indeed would, it was still losing speed quite quickly in its ascent. Grinning, Nobiru saw his chance to turn the tides once and for all as he spun his body, bringing down his extended leg to intercept the rising Zenitsu. He knew that even if he got his leg chopped off as well, the boy would have nowhere to land, and it would leave him in midair, defenseless, prone to being brought back down to the ground at neck breakingly hard speeds once he got a hit in, and then it would be over.

However, yet again, the unexpected happened, and rather than cutting through the leg, he'd notice his opponent sheathing his partially drawn katana back to its scabbard, before untying it from his waist and raising it to block the kick, being brought down with it. This confused the demon initially until he saw Zenitsu grabbing onto his own extended leg and flipping himself around so he was facing the right way up again, using his own leg as a proper foothold despite being midair. Lightning flickered like a coat around him, and Nobiru could only widen his eyes in sudden comprehension before the sixth and final bolt of lightning shot all the way up his leg in the blink of an eye and struck him at the neck, decapitating the demon as the aura of electricity faded around Zenitsu, his shocked foe only able to watch as a decapitated head while his opponent ascended above him, his form silhouetted by the moon as he returned the katana in his hands back to its scabbard.

"_Damn it...I can't believe I lost to someone so pathetic...I wish I at least got to die by someone more impressive than this guy..._" Nobiru thought to himself as his head began to disintegrate while he watched Zenitsu land in a rooftop above him, "_I really never got to say goodbye though, huh Hinomaru...? Well...at least I know the boss will avenge my death...even if this guy is faster than him, there's no way a Demon Slayer will ever be able to kill him with that Blood Art of his..._"

Those were his final thoughts before his decapitated head hit the ground, splattering in a mass of ash.

**A/N: I repeat: I do not know how to manage the length of my chapters as to what I plan on writing on them. I kinda promised Tanjiro vs Kamanue in this chapter during the last Author's Note, but by the time I finished Zenitsu vs Nobiru it was already my biggest chapter so far, so I had to cut it off there in the risk of passing 10k words minus the Author's Note and the Reviews. I'll definitely pass 10k now though. Regardless, I do plan on eventually writing some bigger chapters, but I also wanna try for consistency for now. ****At least this gives anyone who wants to wager their guess on what Kaminue's powers are one more week, the ending of this chapter provides a half decent hint on that after all.**

**In compensation though you have an early chapter. I posted last one on Monday and I'm writing this...I was gonna say Thursday, but its actually Friday already according to mu computer clock. Regardless, it'll go online some time today after I finish this and reread the chapter for grammar. The reason for that is pretty simple...writting this chapter was fun. I had most of this planned out for a while now and just now putting it to paper is exciting, as it always is, though more than usual. Another good reasons is because I had some good music to hear to while writing it. The Demon Slayer Corps theme in special was in repeat throughout most of the Zenitsu fight. **

**Something I wanted to include in this chapter, but couldn't find a good place to write it down in neither of their POV's was a detail about Hinomaru and Nobiru's backstories. Both know each other since they were humans, and thus have a close friendship. They both worked at a circus, one as a fire-eater and the other a contortionist, but the circus was attacked and most people were killed, with both of them turning into demons before being later found by Kamanue and recruited into his gang. **

**Thanks to DownwardDive, who once had a genius idea for this story, one I almost overlooked. **

**With all that said, onto the reviews...surprisingly few this week compared to the average. Maybe because I'm posting the chapter soon.**

_Deutzieg: wtf, I didn't know the story was updated until I checked AO3 lmao, stupid ass ffnet notification._

_Anyway, back to the review, tbh I don't think there are much to be said about this chapter, it is simply good I think. Tanjirou and Zenitsu's bromance is great, we just need the almighty lord Boarhead and boom, we got the original trio!_

_Was kinda shocked for a little bit when the demons snapped the woman's neck out of the blue like that lol, I was expecting that Tanjirou going to be really mad and act careless and faced the demons head on without thinking. I guess Tanjirou is not that dumb._

_Zenitsu! Wow, although there is no fight scene for him in this one, his development and rambling about helping Tanjirou even when his mind told him not to. I guess this development is the equivalent of him protecting Nezuko's box scene?_

_Oh and one more, I don't know if it's your intention or not, but your story at AO3 don't have the Tanjirou/Kanao tag._

_I don't know if it's helping or not, but maybe you can add the tag? Some people (me included) likes to search fics based by the pair tag, maybe you can add it to gain more reader? It's okay if you don't tho, I still read the story regardless XD!_

_Anyway, looking forward for the next chapter!_

**This site's notifications are famously unreliable. **

**It really was a bit of a mostly fighting this chapter, but so is this one. Kinda prefer this one though. Regarding the Original Trio, their reunion is coming as well, not that I can't say much without spoiling my own story. **

**That was meant to be shocking, both in and out of story. Which was kinda the reason Tanjiro was unable to react in time. If this was his canon self though, he probably wouldn't have had the same reaction in controlling his anger.**

**Yeah, Zenitsu...god, Zenitsu. Hard to believe I finally got to HIS moment after all the planning. I really didn't consider much of an equivalent of the box scene though as much as the same kind of development through different means. This chapter though is totally the equivalent of his fight against the Elder Spider Brother however. **

**As for the Ao3 thing...well, Im more used to FF so posting there is somewhat second to here. I forgot to make the same update there as I did here, but that's been fixed now.**

**Anyway, looking forward to the next review.**

_Dreams of NoBody: Shouldn't breath of the sun slow down the heali g of the demons or am I misplacing information?_

**No, you're right. I didn't think it was all that relevant for last chapter since the only BoTS technique used there killed one demon, maimed another, and did minor damage to the third one. The maimed one was just moved offscreen soon after and had healed by the start of this chapter, while the one's minor injuries didn't really affect his fighting too much.**

_Arkham Knight: Tanjiro fights alongside the other characters. The chapter was great a lot of fighting with new demons. Good job._

**Thanks, I hoped you liked the...more fighting with demons I had in this chapter.**

**I guess there's a reason this series is called Demon Slayer.**

_Mukuro1796: Well, now the next chapter is a good chance to know where Tanjirou stood against the Demon Moons. Zenitsu start to know the importance of the job and the encouragement from Tanjirou help him to get over his fear at least for now, very good, and for Genya well, will be interesting if he and Tanjirou be more of rivals, you know that would help them get stonger, but first the fight with the demons, read you in the next chapter._

**Yeaaaahhh...sorry to disappoint on that, you'll have to wait 'till next chapter for Tanjiro vs Kaminue. Still both Zenitsu and Genya got their major badass fights for the arc, so I'm giving myself some more points for that. **

_giacomoX:Well done as always. Can't wait for the meeting with the Pillars_

**Thanks, I'm anxious to get to the pillars too. **

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie:Well It was great chapter yet again._

_I really want to see rest of the fight and the aftermatch too. After all if Tanjiro defeats a lower moon it will be quite big. After all killing a lower moon normally making you a pillar but I don't know how would that work now. We don't really know if 9 pillars is a limit or not after all._

_Also you probably remember that but I still feel a need to remind you that demons don't use names they had in their real life. So when you introduce Nezuko it would be a good move if she also had a different demon name._

_Also if Tanjiro will become a pillar quite early I also wonder how will he react to Giyu. This time nobody will like him for real just like Shinobu says XD_

**I've considered both things already. The Pillar thing and the name thing. Can't really say much about those since they're both big things in the story, though honestly, regarding the Pillars, it does kind of annoy me that no one even consider making Tanjiro the Flame Pillar after he was the one to land the finishing blow in two Upper Moons and one Lower Moon. Sure, he never did it alone, but neither did Sanemi when he killed Lower Moon 1 and was named the Wind Pillar. Just saying, the fact that an Upper Moon hadn't been slain for a hundred years before Tanjiro appeared should at least count for something. I know for a fact at least that he would've made Pillar easily after his fight with Akaza, but there's unfortunately little time left to sit down and give out titles there.**

**So that's it for the reviews. Keep pasting more of those and we'll be getting to triple digits soon enough. Also, favorite and follow, both of those mean a lot, but so do reviews. Sky signing out.**


	10. Clashing Iron

Tanjiro grunted as his back hit the tiles, with him landing roughly after being knocked back, but managing to roll to his feet and skid all the way to the edge of the rooftop he was in, "_No time to waste, he's coming!_" He exclaimed in thought, raising his blade as his opponent landed on the opposite side of the roof and made a straight dash for him. Taking another deep breath, the Demon Slayer would rush in to meet him, and aim for a decapitating swing, only for the demon to move under his blade, while bumping slightly onto his leg, which at their speed was enough to cause Tanjiro to lose balance and be sent flying.

The demon would quickly come to a sudden stop before rushing back at the swordsman while he was still midair, but would be forced to back off the attack when Tanjiro planted a palm on the ground mid-fall, and while upside down, swung his blade upwards to narrowly miss his foe. He flipped himself back to his feet, but even then was given no time to rest as he sidestepped the demon's dash and jumped away at another one of his attacks, landing on the other side of the roof, only for his foe to follow after him and throw in a punch that Tanjiro only managed to catch on his katana's hilt in between his hands, but nonetheless felt his whole body shake from its impact and was thrown all the way across the road, roughly landing back first on yet another rooftop.

"What's wrong?" Kamanue asked with a grin, his right eye with the Lower Moon 6 Kanji glinting in the moonlight as he stared down his opponent, "Don't tell me you're hurting already. You promised me a surprise, didn't you? So far its pretty underwhelming..."

"Don't get too smug yet..." Tanjiro groaned as he rose from the hole created on the side of the roof from his landing, "We're barely getting started here."

Kamanue chuckled at his response, before jumping across the road himself, and landing on the other side of the rooftop from Tanjiro, "You really just don't get it...there is an order to things, boy." He explained, slowly walking towards the Demon Slayer, who in turn raised his blade defensively, "Long ago humans were the top species on this planet, no other creature could rival them...but then the Progenitor of all demons was born, and started to create more and more of his kind in this world. We overtook you in the Food Chain and would've taken the world by now if not limited by numbers. In time though, people discovered ways to slay demons. Sunlight and special blades. And thus you were created: Demon Slayers, people who could rise to challenge demons and actually kill them. The Progenitor was dissatisfied by this, as even though these humans posed no more threat to him than an ant would, they still were undoing his precious work. And thus he gave his power to twelve demons, and the Demon Moons were born, the elite made with the focus of dealing with the threat of the Demon Slayers. But even then, you persisted. The greatest warriors of the Demon Slayers, the Pillars, were created to deal with their threat, and when they eventually discovered breathing techniques, they found themselves able to rival the weaker ones of us, and thus the Progenitor separated us again between those who were killed by Pillars, the Lower Moon, and those who had enough power to kill Pillars themselves, the Upper Moons."

At this point, Kamanue was just some ten feet away from Tanjiro when he stopped walking, but the Demon Slayer could only raise an eyebrow at this whole spiel, "Just get to the point already."

The Lower Moon's grin seemed to widen, "Its quite simple, really. There's an order to things, you see. Demons kill humans, Demon Slayers kill demons, Lower Moons kill Demon Slayers, Pillars kill Lower Moons, Upper Moons kill Pillar and the Progenitor stands above them all unmatched. There are many demons and Demon Slayers stronger than me, but you," He pointed at Tanjiro, "are no Pillar. In the end, you'll just die by my hand like all the others. Its just the way of things.."

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes for a moment, as his lips twisted into a scowl, "...'just the way of things', you say? Killing people is just the way of things?" He turned his glare at the demon intensely, "I don't believe in something as stupid as that...Upper Moons, Lower Moons...Pillars...they're just fancy titles you all like to throw around. The only thing that matters now is if you can or can't kill me before this blade reaches your neck, and I'm willing to bet my life on the latter."

Kamanue looked at him smugly then, unfazed by the Demon Slayer's glare, "'My neck', huh...? Well, we'll see about that…" He said before finally moving in again, running slightly diagonally across the rooftop so he had a higher ground than Tanjiro when he slashed, which allowed the demon to dodge while flipping over the swordsman, swinging his palm in a chopping strike aimed at the back of the boy's neck in an attempt to sever his spine in one clean hit.

Tanjiro, however, caught that coming from the corner of his eye and lowered his head in time so only the demon's clawed nails would graze onto his neck, and used the momentum of his missed swing to spin around and slash at the demon just as he landed, forcing Kamanue to twist back his body to dodge, while backing up from the quick subsequent swings that followed, pushed back ever closer to the roof's back. Seeing that though, Tanjiro would try and capitalize on it, feinting a swing at his foe only to instead switch his stance at the last moment and throw a kick that would knock him over the edge and down onto the streets. At least…that's what was supposed to happen. He didn't expect that Kamanue would fall for the feint, and yet still manage to raise his hand and catch his kick. He also didn't expect for the Lower Moon to then grin at him, before grabbing onto his leg with the other hand as well and swinging Tanjiro over his shoulder before tossing him over the rooftop's edge and down to the street.

Luckily, he'd land head first onto the ground, which meant his tough skull absorbed most of the impact, and turning his desperate tumbling across the ground into a half-decent roll that allowed him to get back to his feet only somewhat dizzy. Once again, lucky him, since he'd immediately have to dodge Kamanue, who jumped right after him and was already bringing his fist down on the boy's face to do what the fall couldn't before Tanjiro narrowly jumped out of the way. The Lower Moon's fist instead would impact the ground, creating a considerably-sized crater upon impact, "Damn," He grunted, dragging his fist out of the hole it'd created, "That's a miss."

"_Damn…if this fight keeps going like this, he's gonna end up getting me sooner or later._" Tanjiro thought while keeping his blade raised as Kamanue calmly walked towards him, "_He still hasn't used his Blood Art though…which must mean he still underestimates me…my best chance here is to catch him off guard with a Breath of the Sun Technique. If I can get a good enough chance, I might be able to end this fight before he even gets serious._"

Soon enough, Kamanue would begin approaching him, only at which point he suddenly rushed in at Tanjiro, aiming to blitz him in one swift motion. He'd duck when the Demon Slayer swung for his neck, and moved in stretching his hand out towards the boy's face, only to have said hand knocked aside with the hilt of his katana, allowing the swordsman to move to the side and make another failed attempt at a decapitation that the Lower Moon also dodged. He'd get a couple more fruitless swings in before Kamanue spotted an opening in his guard and swung for an overhead kick forcing him to back away. Following up on that, he threw two follow up punches that Tanjiro quickly dodged before forcing Kamanue back with a swing of his own that pushed his foe away and just out of his blade's reach.

Looking down at the dusty road then, the demon would suddenly smirk, before throwing a short kick at the ground beneath him, kicking up a considerably sized dust cloud towards Tanjiro in an effort to blind the Demon Slayer momentarily. The boy would raise his arm to protect his squinting eyes from the dust, but otherwise wouldn't move until his nose caught onto the demon's scent again and he quickly dodged beneath an overhead blow from behind. A smart tactic, but there was no way the demon could've known about his nose. Regardless, Kamanue would press forward, aiming a straight at Tanjiro just as he started falling back and turning to face his foe, which in turn forced him to give into his momentum and start falling towards the ground in order to evade the punch. This, however, finally seemed to give him the opening he'd been waiting for, as one of the swordsmen's hands were planted against the ground behind him in order to push him back up to his feet while his other was used in lashing out with his katana at Kamanue's extended arm, allowing him to finally take more than just a finger from his opponent and land his first meaningful blow in what had so far been an evading game for the two parties, switching between who was on the offensive and defensive constantly.

Kamanue was left startled, backing away from the Demon Slayer while staring at the stump of his missing arm, but had no time to do so as Tanjiro had by then pushed himself back to his feet and moved in at him. He would strike at the Demon Slayer with his remaining arm, trying to capitalize on his speed, but this time was caught in Tanjiro's feint when his blade only cut through air, allowing the boy to position himself just out of his foe's own reach, spinning his body while taking a proper hold of his katana's hilt, "Breath of the Sun," He said, taking a deep breath, "Second Dance: Crimson Horizon!"

His blade burst in bright red flames, as they spun with him while he positioned himself beside the surprised Kamanue, who was hit with the full impact of the flaming blade to the back of his neck. Except...it didn't cut. It was stopped as if it had hit a solid wall. Tanjiro would glance over his shoulder and suddenly widened his eyes at what he saw. His katana had indeed made contact with his opponent's neck, but in the spot it had impacted, it had been met with neither skin nor muscle. Rather, what had replaced it was a black metallic surface that had spread to over half of the demon's neck all the way to nearly half his face, enveloping his eye but stopping at his nose. Though the blade had managed to make some damage, it was superficial, cutting only inches into the metal, but managing to draw some blood through it regardless, "What's wrong, Demon Slayer?" The Lower Moon asked him as he glanced at the shocked Tanjiro from over his shoulder, "Are you surprised...?"

He was then forced to dodge as Kamanue closed in and swung his arm at him, and he'd get a brief glimpse of the demon's fist, its skin replaced by the same metallic material as it had done so in his neck. He was only grazed in his arm by the blow, but was sent skidding back a good distance regardless, and left with his arm throbbing in pain from blocking the blow. "_He's not as fast...but to compensate his hits got way harder..._" Tanjiro thought, a bead of sweat running down his forehead, "_So this is it...his Demon Blood Art!_"

"So...the 'Breath of the Sun', huh? That's a new one even for me. You're really something else. I apologize for underestimating your valor as a warrior earlier, you deserve as much." The Lower Moon admitted, raising his maimed arm of flesh as it regenerated, "For one, its been several years since someone else ever managed to cut off an arm of mine, and you're the fifth swordsman to cut this deep into my flesh with my Black Iron activated, but I think you've seen by now the reason no Demon Slayer's ever managed to beat me." He said before he motioned with both hands to his neck, just as the skin around it was completely replaced by the Black Iron, "This neck is of mine is uncuttable to a blade as dull as yours."

"...we'll see about that," Tanjiro said quietly, even though he knew full well this new development was very bad news. He had previously bet on enclosing distance and cutting through him with a Breath of the Sun technique, but if even that couldn't do the job, what else was he even supposed to do? He could tell already that the blow on Kamanue hadn't been easy on his katana, its white blade now somewhat dulled out and with less of an edge near its tip. He couldn't risk just throwing out more of these reckless swings and end up getting disarmed in the process.

"Indeed we will." The demon chuckled menacingly as the metal covering his neck seemed to flow down his body like a liquid before fully surrounding the full length of both his arms, "Now, ready or not, here I come!" Kamanue then disappeared in a burst of speed, and Tanjiro was forced to fall back just before a metalic black fist flew by only inches past his face.

"_He himself hasn't gotten any slower..._" Tanjiro noted as he was forced to dodge another two consecutive swings of his foe, "_But at least his arms have. Even then, he's hitting twice as hard now that he's using this 'Dark Iron'...but still, I have to make every advantage I got now count._" With that motive in mind, through his dodging, he would begin guiding Kamanue towards one of the nearby houses, and once they were close enough and the demon threw in his punch, he would dodge and instead let the blow sink into the wall behind, creating several cracks spreading from where the hit impacted it, but momentarily trapping the metallic fist in a hole of its own creation as planned.

Tanjiro would use this chance to aim for the demon's neck again but have it stopped by the demon's other metallic arm before he was kicked back and sent sprawling down the street. It wasn't a clean hit, nor was it coated in Dark Iron, and it was even thrown from an awkward position, yet it hurt all the same. He'd look up though and be surprised to see that rather than pulling his hand out of the wall, the grinning Kamanue was instead running at him still dragging his metallic fist through the building before pulling back slightly and making it so only his fingers were cutting through the walls, and with surprising ease too. He'd realize the why of that soon enough, once the demon dragged his fingers out through the wall and swung at him, forcing the swordsman to duck under his attack. He would press further, forcing Tanjiro to dodge thrice over before he finally had no choice but to raise his blade and block the incoming blow, even though the impact behind Kamanue's swing did knock his blade aside despite him steadying himself for it. As he did though, his movement would slow down enough so Tanjiro would notice that the fingers in his opponent's metallic hand had somehow reshaped into thinner appendages, each with a sharp edge of their own and a sharp tip to boot.

"_Those aren't just claws...he created blades from his fingers..._" He silently noted, "_So that means his power isn't only using his iron to coat body parts, but also reshaping those parts to better utilize it...this just creates another slew of problems._" Tanjiro though could only identify as much before Kamanue moved in again for a swing while his guard was down, which he, in turn, moved to dodge. Turns out though this time his opponent had feinted him, and instead moved with the momentum of his swing to elbow the Demon Slayer right in the gut, knocking him once again down the road.

Tanjiro grunted as he looked up at the night sky from his downed position, panting and in pain. He turned around and tried to rise only for his strength to leave him as he coughed out blood in the ground before collapsing again, "_...ugh...that can't be good._"

"You're really something else, Demon Slayer...even in that desperate position, you still managed to toughen your muscles and jump back to move with the blow's momentum." Kamanue commended him while striding over to his opponent as he so liked doing, "Hadn't you done so, more than a few of those frails vital organs you humans so desperately need would've been turned to mush by that blow alone." As he walked through, Tanjiro would glare up, and the Demon Moon would cease his stride just as the very tip of Tanjiro's blade scratched his cheek when he stepped within the boy's reach, "Oh? Still got some fight in you, I see..." He noted with a grin, watching the rising Tanjiro struggle to get on his feet, staring daggers at his demonic opponent while heavily panting, "I'm glad. Truly." The demon then admitted raising both hands as his bladed fingers grew slightly in length, "You really are the kind that deserves to be torn down properly."

Breathing deeply, Tanjiro would regain his composure and take his stance as he waited for his opponent to make the first move. Kamanue though gave him plenty of time to gather his bearings while he waited, and even once he was done, he still didn't move. In fact, it wasn't until Tanjiro blinked that he did. One moment he was standing just out of his reach with those bladed fingers of his, and a blink later, the demon had moved in and was its bladed hand at his face. The swordsman would raise his blade to deflect the swing while backing up to avoid having his eyes and nose torn out with that one swing, but was immediately pressed further as Kamanue reversed his hand and swung again for his foe's throat, who in turn dodged again.

Despite the earlier blow still taking its toll on him, Tanjiro would continue on the defensive, and as he did something about his opponent's fighting style began becoming clear to him. With endowing his arms with Dark Iron he'd sacrificed speed and agility for strength and endurance, but it wasn't just that. While before he was attacking at each and every way, now Kamanue had a bias towards attacking with his arms, and even more specifically with his claws. The few times he'd switched that up since had caught the swordsman by surprise, but he'd been stupid then. The fact that Kamanue's every attack was now coming in the form of a clawed swing with the odd exception was not to his advantage, but to Tanjiro's.

This realization seemed to switch the flow of battle. Though the human continued to defend and the demon continued to attack, anyone watching would be able to notice the instant shift from when Tanjiro's attempts to evade his foe's attacks went from a bid for survival to a more methodical and calculated process. Kamanue also noticed that however, and began growing fiercer with his attacks, and yet every time they missed when his target moved out of the way or deflected from hitting him by the Demon Slayer's blade. Growing quickly impatient with his lack of success and how calmly his opponent was evading his advances, the demon slashed with both his clawed hands at the swordsman to force him to back up and giving him the chance to step forward and throw a roundhouse kick that was sure to at least break a few bones. Unlike the last two times Kamanue had switched from his claws to catch the human off guard though, it didn't quite work. Instead, Tanjiro would twist his body to avoid it before moving in at his foe and, despite not having a clear aim at his neck due to the metallic arms raised to protect it, he instead chose to settle with a deep gash cut along the side of his midsection, slashing through and staining the demon's white haori with a bloody red spot before he moved away to avoid another swipe of the bladed fingers.

"My favorite haori...first you chop off its sleeve, now you make me bleed in it." Kamanue turned to him in genuine annoyance, seeming more displeased than impressed with his opponent for the first time in the fight. "Is that really how you repay my courtesy, Demon Slayer?"

"No...once I swing to repay you, I'll make sure to aim for the neck. I'd love to see how courteous you are as a pile of ash." The Demon Slayer shot back.

Hearing that, Kamanue would say nothing, instead only silently smirking, and even that was different from before, less smug and confident, and more like he was picturing a gruesome death for the human standing before him. Even though it had already healed by then, the last cut he'd taken had definitely changed the outlook he had on his opponent. Instead of speaking, he only moved, jumping in at Tanjiro while spinning sideways before bringing down his bladed hand on the swordsman to try and catch him unprepared. When he swung his katana to try and deflect it however, Kamanue would drag it down by holding the blade in beween his sharpened fingers to open up the human's guard. As he did so, he closed his other hand's fingers into a fist with the exception of his middle one, which sprouted out as a single blade to form a blade about the size of a large knife. Upon getting the opening he'd been waiting for, he'd thrust his finger at Tanjiro to try and stab him, but he narrowly moved to the side in order to avoid this.

Kamanue followed closely though, and tried to stab him a few other times with his finger blade, but the swordsman would manage to pull his blade free of the demon's grasp and deflect those stabs while backing off. The demon would grin then, before clenching both hands into fists and throwing two jabs that Tanjiro dodged in quick succession, but finished with a straight too quick for the swordsman to fully escape, forcing him to block the blow on the blunt side of his katana and leading him to skid away with the impact. That was when he noticed that his back was directly against the outer walls of a house, and it dawned on him that what Kamanue was trying in fact was to trap him. This realization though came a moment too late as the demon was already moving in at him, aggressively thrusting his hand and all five of its bladed fingers right at the boy's face in an attempt to mangle it.

Given the situation, the only thing Tanjiro would manage to do was raise his blade vertically to intercept the demon's metallic hand, intercepting the outstretched hand with his blade right in the space between his middle and index fingers. The blow would come with enough force to push him off his feet and smash him back first into the wall behind, creating a small crater where he impacted. Regardless though, he held his katana steady while the demon's hand pushed against its trembling blade while his other arm shifted entirely, eliminating his hand in favor of a single sharp spike of Dark Iron emerging from his arm which, judging from his grin, he was very keen on impaling the Demon Slayer with.

Tanjiro though pulled down his blade, slowly and steady, as the further it was from the hilt, the harder it was to keep back the demon's bladed hand, its finger blades seeming to slowly stretch out as they began approaching his eyes. That was when he chose to move however, hitting the ground and taking his blade with it, Kamanue's bladed fingers thrust forward to sink into the wall behind him. His other speared hand was thrust at the human then, but Tanjiro struck the wall behind him with his elbow, giving him enough momentum to avoid the Lower Moon's spear by sliding right through his legs, while having his blade slash a deep gash across his left calf.

The gash would cause Kamanue to lose balance, only preventing himself from falling by using the wall where he'd been pinning his foe against to hold up his weight, but had only a moment to readjust himself before Tanjiro already rushed him from behind. He'd move with his blade as if preparing to swing it, and the demon would swing out his arm to try and intercept it, but he would shift his stance at the last moment as he ducked beneath the Demon Moon's arm and glare up at his neck while pulling back his katana, gripping it with both hands as he breathed in, "Breath of the Sun, Seventh Dance..." Tanjiro announced as, from the collar to its tip, his blade was again encased in the Breath of the Sun's flames, before being thrust straight upwards at the demon's throat, "Piercing Sunlight!"

Kamanue cursed quietly but raised his chin before his entire neck was also surrounded by dark steel, creating another thin edge sprouting out in between his chin and neck so that, when the flaming blade impacted it, it would be deflected to the side and hit only the wall behind its target, sinking in almost halfway through before coming to a stop. Then it was Tanjiro's turn to curse as he tried dragging his katana out of the wall and backing away, only to be hit across the head with his opponent's spear tipped arm and once again sent flying across the road. Luckily, his reinforced head could crush even firewood under its mighty forehead, so that was the least troublesome place for him to be hit.

That said, he'd rise back up fairly quickly, though somewhat dizzy, and see Kamanue moving towards him. The confident grin on his face was long gone, now replaced by a deep scowl as his eyes glared irritatedly at the Demon Slayer. Slowly but intently, he began taking off his haori as both his arms and hands returned to a normal shape, and yet the Dark Iron surrounding them as well as his neck began spreading further, "It seems I wasn't done underestimating you after all...tell me your name Demon Slayer. This is something I wish to remember."

The sworsdsman narrowed his eyes, still holding his katana raised, but hesitantly responded, "...Tanjiro. My name is Tanjiro Kamado."

"Tanjiro Kamado...I can count in my hands the number of foes whom I had to use the full extent of my Demon Blood Arts to put down. I will fight you as I would the strongest of the Kinoe rank." Kamanue warned his foe as he finished undressing from his haori, every inch of visible skin now covered by the same Dark Iron that previously only enveloped his arms and his neck. It even extended to his hair, turning his already dark brown hair a metallic black and the tips a darker shade of orange with the same metallic shine on him. The only parts that didn't seem to have been covered by the Dark Iron as far as Tanjiro could tell were his teeth and eyes. "Blood Demon Art: Dark Iron Armor. Playtime is over now, boy. Prepare to fight for your life."

"Thanks, but I'd much rather fight for your head instead." He replied calmly, watching his foe closely for how he'd move next. And move he did, rushing him immediately after his snide remark, and swung with a straight hook at his face. It was a straightforward attack, one he'd easily back away from. It was evident from his first step that this technique of his had taken a toll on the demon's speed, and yet...he moved with nothing else in mind but the intention to kill. From the very first blow he dodged, Tanjiro knew his hardened head that it wouldn't matter if he got hit with one of those. His neck would snap the moment the punch landed.

The demon threw in a few jabs and Tanjiro could do little but dodge, though he managed to swing his katana and deflect a blow when the demon followed up with a straight. "_How am I supposed to fight this guy now...?_" He wondered, even as his foe reshaped his left hand's fingers back into blades and tried swinging for his face. He'd attempt to raise his blade in defense only to have it knocked back down by Kamanue's other arm, and only narrowly managed to dodge his sharpened fingers, losing a few strands of hair in the process, "_I can't stay on the defensive forever...even if he's slower, he'll get a lucky shot in eventually. But if my Breath of the Sun Techniques aren't enough to pierce that Iron Skin of his, then what am I supposed to-_" His line of thought was cut short when he moved to evade his foe's follow up attack, only to catch sight of something he hadn't noticed before and widened his eyes in surprise.

Lining the side of the demon's Dark Iron coated neck, was a single white line. A sizable scratch etched into the iron by Tanjiro's own katana when he'd used Piercing Sunlight to try and stab him in the neck. Even with his neck returning to its normal shape right after, it had kept the mark left by his blade intact on the Dark Iron. In theory, that was something the demon's healing prowess should have long handled, and yet there it was. This only left him with one possible conclusion that would change the flow of battle, and this was that for as strong as his opponent's defenses might be, he was unable to heal properly if his iron-clad skin was damaged. The only reason he hadn't noticed this when his first blow had landed was that Kamanue had deactivated his ability and allowed it to heal, but now that he was using it in his entire body...

Reinvigorated by what that discovery meant, Tanjiro smirked as he leaned back to dodge another slash from Kamanue's bladed fingers while backing up. He'd use his superior speed to dodge the blows that followed and open up some space while leading the demon after him, at which point he would strike at the ground with his blade and use his opponent's own earlier trick to create a cloud of dust to blind him. Kamanue would raise his arm to cover his eyes from the dust and would start moving in back towards the Demon Slayer, only for a shadow to emerge from the smoke beside him, one which was quickly sliced up with a swing of his arm. Rather than cutting through flesh and bone however, what his fingers connected with was nothing but fabric as he sliced through his own previously discarded haori right before Tanjiro emerged from amidst the cloud of dust behind him and moved in to try and stab his foe in the one spot where he seemed to be vulnerable: his eyes. Rather than being blinded though, the Demon Moon grunted and managed to move his head to the side so the blow would only graze along its temple rather than making contact, and immediately retaliated by swinging his leg to catch the swordsman with a kick to his side, only rather than have it just land, Tanjiro would jump in and slam both feet on the side of the demon's metallic leg, using the power behind the kick to trampoline himself skyward, well above the buildings around them.

He'd barely be allowed the chance to land, however, as Kamanue suddenly glared up in anger before crouching slightly and leaping right after him, bursting through wall and roof alike before taking another impulse to leap right after the falling Tanjiro in order to intercept him midair. Immediately upon reaching his target, he'd grab onto the end of the swordsman's haori and try to pull him in while throwing in a punch, only for the human to react by slashing off the end of his haori grabbed onto by his foe and weave to evade his punch. He'd slash at Kamanue to try and push him away, only for the demon to block the blow with one arm and kick at Tanjiro. Though he would manage to block the brunt of the blow with the guard of his sword, that didn't solve the fact that he was sent flying back down to the rooftop below at crazy speeds. He'd manage to use the slope in it to roll on landing though, breaking his fall somewhat, before leaping over to the next rooftop across the road. He wasn't a moment too late as, soon after, Kamanue himself would land in the first rooftop, collapsing it entirely under the weight of his Dark Iron clad body.

Tanjiro would grunt while rising to his feet, looking at the half-collapsed house across the street, before Kamanue leapt out of the remains and gripped onto the edge of the roof his foe stood in, climbing up with ease while glaring at the human, "_Shit...if I had managed to blind even one of his eyes, that would've given me the chance to throw in a proper attack without the risk of getting hit, but now that he knows I'm targeting that, he won't give me another shot so easily..._" He noted, trying to reign in his frustration. Dwelling on what he could've done better wouldn't help him figure out how to beat the demon after all. "_C'mon...think..._"

"You know...this is really starting to lose its fun." The demon noted, interrupting his line of thought and causing him to look up across the roof to his foe, "I guess it was expected after I activated my Dark Iron Armor, but now all you can do is block, dodge, run away...you barely attack anymore" He then opened up a wide cruel smirk, "I know what's gonna make this fun again though! All I have to do is to start killing every other human in this town! Maybe if I get you mad enough, you'll finally be able to swing that sword hard enough to start cutting into my neck!"

This statement caused Tanjiro to widen his eyes, his hands gripping tighter onto his trembling katana as a vein popped along his temples, his teeth sinking into his lower lip for a moment in an attempt to contain his bout of anger. And yet, it all only made the demon grin wider as he saw his words hitting the sore spot just as intended, "...I hate it. I hate how you demons say these things so lightly..." He said, quietly but intensely, "Do you have no pity for the people you slaughter? You were human too once...how can you feel no regret?"

"Do I have to repeat myself, boy? It is the food chain. Demons eat humans. Nature willed it so." Kamanue coldly stated, "In my eyes, your kind is no more than talking cattle. The only difference is that some like you have a bit more fight in them."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, as the last strained strand of Tanjiro's composure snapped, and he glared up hatefully at the demon, "...there is nothing natural about this all. Every species on this planet strives to create something, however small, to leave behind to their offspring's brighter future, but demons...you just kill and destroy caring about nothing but yourselves! If you really think of us as nothing more than cattle, then that just means you forgot why humans shouldn't be underestimated!" The Demon Slayer told him, before taking in a deep breath, "I don't care how tough you are anymore...I'm gonna cut that hardened neck of yours and break your precious food chain once and for all! Breath of the Sun, First Dance: Waltz!"

The katana in his hands burst once again with powerful flames encasing its edge as it was raised defiantly at the Demon Moon standing across it, whose smirk hadn't even faltered after his opponent's speech. Instead, he only raised both his darkened arms, getting into a fighting stance himself, "Very well...swing as hard you like then...human." With that said, he moved in at Tanjiro, and swung at him, only to be met in his dash and have his blow blocked when met by a swing of the flaming blade. His fingers grew sharpened once again as he threw two more blows, and yet they were likewise deflected by the Demon Slayer before he swung for the demon's neck and cut an inch or two deep gash across his throat, though this prevented him from dodging fully when the Demon Moon swung to retaliate and had to block with his katana, being thrown back by the blow and landing on yet another roof while his foe quickly pursued him.

Tanjiro would raise his blade, only for his foe to suddenly stop and use his momentum to kick up a couple of the tiles in the roof directly towards him. Though he ducked to dodge those, Kamanue would take this chance to close in and swing for his face, and he would very nearly have his nose torn off if not for a quick leap back. The swordsman would continue backing up as the demon pursued him, swinging his blade one-handed to deflect his swings and punches, before finally managing to get the chance to dodge by leaping over him, all the while spinning midair and swinging to land a slash on the side of the Lower Moon's head, cutting a line across his ear. Upon landing, things would switch up as he moved in immediately for his opponent and began pressuring him with a series of quick, flame covered swings that forced him to block with his metallic arms, leaving a few more significant scratches on the surface of his Dark Iron skin.

The pressure of his offensive would eventually lead them to yet another rooftop, where Tanjiro continued his slashing, with the demon still blocking until he found a good chance to dodge and tried to go for the offensive against his attacker. He, however, would duck under Kamanue's blow and move behind him while swinging as if aiming for the demon's neck. His foe, raised his other arm to block him, but his defense was somewhat sloppy, and though he wouldn't get a clean shot to the neck, Tanjiro still shifted his blow enough so that instead of being stopped by the demon's forearm, it would be aimed slightly upwards, to instead slash off both his left index and middle fingers, his flaming blade barely slowed down by the Dark Iron coating them.

That, he hoped, was what would give him the real opening for the demon's neck, which he quickly followed up with a horizontal slash of his flaming blade, but he underestimated the Lower Moon and was stopped by the same arm he'd deprived off two fingers moments ago, with Kamanue already spinning around to throw an upward swing of his other arm's at Tanjiro. The Demon Slayer would disengage and opt to back up, but widen his eyes when swing reached past what he thought to be his foe's range and landed a deep cut stretching from his chin to the corner of his lower lip, causing his head to jerk upwards and for him to stumble upon his landing, the flames on his blade fading out as he raised his hand to cover the newly opened gash in his face while turning to stare at what exactly had cut him.

Much to his surprise, rather than the normal finger turned knives that Kamanue had been using before, this time his entire forearm had shifted into a single-edged blade of about the same size of his normal arm, but somewhat lengthier, explaining the unexpected boost in his reach, "What? Thought I hadn't any tricks left up my sleeve, Tanjiro Kamado?" He asked with that same smug grin that had begun so quickly irritating the boy in the short time he'd known the demon, "Well, quite clearly you were wrong."

Tanjiro grunted as he felt blood rushing past his chin and down his neck, even in spite of him covering the wound with his hand. It was clear now, he'd made a terrible mistake going in as he did, allowing himself to get riled up by words and giving the demon the straightforward brawl where his foe knew he could triumph in. He probably also didn't expect how hard the Demon Slayer's own offense would be, but it really didn't matter. Every blow landed on the demon was an attempt to wear him down and get an opening, but every blow thrown at Tanjiro was done with the clear intention to kill, and this last one, in particular, had nearly split his face apart. And to make matters worse, he was also feeling the drawback of his Breath of the Sun weighing on him, his body overheating as his muscles ached and his lungs burned. Yet, in spite of it all, his sword was still held, silently raised before him.

Seeing the fight in the human's eyes though, Kamanue chuckled, "You just don't give up, do you...? I gotta admire that. However..." He raised his foot then, before stomping down hard, causing cracks to spread around from the spot where his foot hit the floor before the entire half of the rooftop suddenly collapsed beneath their feet. Tanjiro found himself than on the second floor of a house amidst a cloud of dust and several broken off tiles, the walls facing the streets and the neighboring house both collapsed around them as well, while the demon leaped down from the roof, landing in the rubble as his other arm too shifted into a blade of its own, "...don't think your death will be less painful because of it!"

He moved in quickly as Tanjiro rose from the pile of tiles and rubble he found himself on before having to block his opponent's swings with his own katana, taking a two-handed grip on its hilt uncaring for the blood gushing from the wound in his chin. His blows seemed faster now and without a doubt far more deadly, forcing him to back away while knocking aside Kamanue's blades with his own. That lasted until he'd found himself backed up against an edge, and the demon would lock both his blades crossed together against his own before suddenly swinging with them both while pushing the Demon Slayer back, sending him flying through the walls of a neighboring building and into someone's empty living room.

The Demon Moon leaped in after his target as the groaning boy was immediately forced to roll back as to not have his legs relieved by his opponent's bladed arm. He rose groggily but continued backing up while frantically defending himself against Kamanue's nonstop slashing, backing up until he'd feel his lower back hit something, and with a glance over his shoulder, he'd realize it was a table, and suddenly flip over it as his foe brought down his bladed arm to cut right through it. Rolling to land on the other side, Tanjiro would rise back to his feet and kick the table up towards the demon, only to have him rip apart the wooden piece of furniture with his bladed arms. The swordsman though would invest on this tactic, and use the environment against his foe, by kicking up a tableside chair towards the demon, which he likewise swung his arm to tear apart, but didn't expect that Tanjiro would have used the brief second in which the chair had covered his line of sight to close in distance, starting to push against his limits as he breathed in deeply, "Breath of the Sun, Fourth Dance: Burning Sunrise!" He slashed upwards with his katana bursting with fire as he avenged his own recent injury by leaving a cut from Kamanue's own chin, over his lips, left eye and ending in his forehead.

Angrily, the Demon Moon swung to rip the human apart, but he nimbly dodged, moving towards his foe's newly acquired blind spot. He leaped, planting a foot on the wall to flip over Kamanue and land behind him, aiming to disorientate the demon and go for a surprise shot at his neck before he could react. He didn't expect however for the demon to swing with a kick blindly, nor for it to hit home a moment before he landed. He raised his left arm to block it as the heel of his foe's foot made contact and he'd feel the snapping sensation in his arm before being sent flying through the nearest wall and out into the streets again, landing roughly on his way down.

Tanjiro groaned on the ground, breathing in heavily despite the pain. He didn't even need to look to know his left arm was broken, and being sent flying through a wall and crashing down onto the road hadn't helped much. All that was without mentioning the aggravating symptoms his fifth Breath of the Sun technique that day being thrown out. He felt feverish, his muscles ached, his vision blurred...and yet adrenaline and spirit pulled him back to his feet, still holding onto his katana with a deathly grip despite now only being able to wield it effectively with one hand.

"You're a worthy opponent...and yet so limited by that frail body of yours." He looked up to see Kamanue saying, standing at the edge of the hole on the wall created by kicking him through it. "Were you a demon yourself, you would probably have killed me long ago. But instead, you stick to your humanity, as if an aging body and broken bones are something to be proud of." The demon scoffed as he allowed the Dark Iron to fade momentarily from coating his skin, allowing the multiple wounds he'd garnered from Tanjiro to begin healing. Normally, this would be the moment the boy had been waiting to attack, and yet the distance between them and the state he was in already meant such an attack would be impossible at the present moment. "And all I had to do was bait you into thinking you could wound me, just because I can't heal through my Dark Iron when it's active...all that talk of not 'underestimating humanity', and yet there you stand...broken." With all his wounds healed, the Demon Moon would leap down to the street, Dark Iron once again encasing his skin entirely, now untouched by any previous cuts or scratches. "Demonkind is simply above your inferior humanity as a whole. A natural step forward. Can you not see as much now...?"

Tanjiro looked down for a moment, blood still falling in droplets to the ground from the wound in his chin as his injured arm hung loosely to his side, "...you say that with such conviction...and yet...I've never needed to hide from sunlight before." He murmured, before suddenly looking up at Kamanue, and surprising the demon with the fact that despite his eyes showing his tiredness, the grin on his face said otherwise, "You think yourself so high and mighty as a species, but you know what you really are. You're not an improvement on humankind, you're a plague on this world. A pest that feeds off humanity, no different from a rat or a moth."

This speech ironically seemed to get under the Demon Moon's seemingly impenetrable skin more than any of his sword strikes did as he curled his hands into fists. It was obvious the human was trying to antagonize him just as what had been done to himself earlier, but even then, Kamanue was not used to being disrespected, be it by human or Demon Slayer, the symbol on his eye made sure of that much, "Careful, boy..." he said warningly, "...there are still ways I can punish you for insulting a Demon Moon. You wouldn't want to die knowing I'll massacre the rest of this town because of your disrespect, would you...?"

"Demon Moon...? Don't make me laugh. You're Lower Moon Six. The literal bare minimum, and yet you speak with all the bravado of Kibutsuji himself." He spat out, noticing the deepening look of anger in the demon's visage, "Except you'd probably shit yourself if you ever came across an actual Pillar according to your Food Chain. For someone who so enjoys spewing out how superior to humans they are, you sure fear us a lot, no?"

Judging from his bloodshot eyes and the infuriated look on his metallic face, this statement, in particular, seemed to hit a sore spot for the demon. So much so that he immediately moved in at the Demon Slayer without even bothering to respond to his taunting. With his broken arm hampering his fighting ability by quite a bit, Tanjiro did what he could do: he dodged. He weaved in between Kamanue's punches, dodged his bladed fingers and, when it came to it, swung out his katana to deflect the occasional blow. It was taking all of his attention to only keep up with his enraged opponent while backing up from his ceaseless advance. Upon dodging underneath one of his sharpened swings and responding with a swing of his own to intercept the following attack, he'd jump back and catch an alleyway in between two houses at the corner of his eye. He'd look back at Kamanue and see the enraged Demon Moon morphing both his arm into Dark Iron blades once again and decided to take the alleyway.

As he did, he'd be quickly caught up by the demon, and be once again forced to evade his irate slashing, completely uncaring for the narrow walls surrounding them as his blades cut through them without barely slowing down his swings. Tanjiro tried dodging in hesitation of testing his own blade against that kind of cutting power, but was eventually forced to resort to deflecting, and then blocking outright when the demon swung both blades at his foe at once, a blow that the boy could barely defend himself from in his one-handed situation, and that sent him skidding all the way past the other end of the alleyway, at which point he blinked as he was met with a bit of an...unexpected sight.

Just some fifty yards down the road was one of Kaigara's large piers, housing some smaller houses and businesses in it. It was also currently on fire, both a great deal of the pier itself and most of the houses in it. Tanjiro would get barely any time to question what had happened though when he had to return his attention to the dashing Kamanue. The demon would continue his flurry of attacks, and the Demon Slayer would be forced to dodge the first couple few, before being once again forced into defending himself from them with his sword, pushed back in by the nonstop influx of slashes and swings in the process. He was giving his all just in the hopes of keeping up, and this eventually came to test him when he defended a downward swing of Kamanue's blade, locking blades momentarily with the demon. At which point, he smirked and pushed back his blade close to Tanjiro's face before pulling it to the side, creating a short-lived shower of sparks with the metals clashing that went directly into the human's arm, leaving him blinded for a single moment. More than enough time for a battle to be decided in.

The demon would grin widely, and swing his arm in for the kill. Despite it all happening in a moment's notice, time seemed to slow down for Tanjiro when he closed his eyes then. He was aware of what was happening, what was about to happen, he could hear the blade cutting through the air destined to take his life, and yet...he never panicked. More so, he wondered what would happen. Would he see his life flash before his eyes? Well, that was what expected...but instead, what hit him was the smell. The smell he'd smelled a thousand times, and yet couldn't properly place. And yet, somewhere in this brain, he knew what this smell translated to, and his body moved as if from pure instinct, lowering his head just ever so slightly down and in the process avoided having his head cut in two by the Lower Moon's blade.

Vision slowly returning to him, Tanjiro would tighten his one-handed grip on his blade, and despite everything still being more blurry than not, he attempted to seize the moment, swinging in with everything he got right at the Demon Moon's neck. And yet, everything he got with one arm wasn't enough, as his vision returned fully just to see the irritatingly smug grin on Kamanue's face as his blade turned hand again had intercepted the katana, closing into a fist around it, "It's over." Was all he said, before bringing down his other arm still in its blade form and snapping his katana's blade down in the middle, thus breaking the weapon.

Tanjiro's eyes widened for a moment in shock at seeing his katana, the one gifted to him by Satoshi in the Final Selection, broken like that, and that was all Kamanue needed to place a palm against his chest before, only with a slight push, sending the swordsman flying and crashing right into a nearby wall and raising a cloud of dust that, once gone, revealed a bloodied Tanjiro lying amidst the rubble, still holding onto the hilt of his broken katana despite seeming completely unconscious.

"Tell me now, Demon Slayer..." The smirking Kamanue said as he looked down upon his opponent's defeated form, "...was that not the blade you promised to decapitate me with?"

**A/N: Fighting chapters are tough to write, you know? Normally, I have a lot of interesting choreography set in my head, and that can be translated into my writing sometimes better than others, but the real problem are the gaps between these moments. Its hard working them not to get repetitive. Sometimes I'll look up some anime fights that can be comparable to what I'm writing and I'll try to get some inspiration from those. The one that really helped me this chapter was actually a fan animation of Rengoku fighting Akaza in the end of the train arc. Its basic, but extremely well done. If I had that kind of drawing talent, this whole story would probably be a fancomic of sorts, but no such luck, and thus I'm stuck with writing.**

**This chapter...what can I say about this chapter? Its a fight chapter, quite certainly the toughest one I threw at Tanjiro's way yet, as well as the longest one, set to get even longer as I wrap it up next chapter. Kamanue's power, if anyone's curious, is a mixture of Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu from My Hero Academia and that one One Piece character, Mr. 1, who could create blades out of his body. He'd be a lot more similar if he had some good Haki though. **

**Since I don't know what much else is interesting to say in this author's note. I suppose its a big deal that we're now dealing with double digits in the chapter numbers, but aside from that...I'll just thank DownwardDive for whatever arbitrary reason I have this week and move o****ver to the reviews.**

_Guest: __Cant wait to see Tanjiro's reaction to seeing Nezuko again_

**What else can I say if not...she gets closer every chapter.**

_Echonic: The fights in this fanfic are phenomenal and are probably some of the best in this site. I honestly can't wait for the Tanjiro and Lower moon 6 fight. Because if the fights were as orgasmic as hell so far then the next fight will give me heart attack from excitement._

**That's high praise, and I'm grateful for it. Not fully sure if I deserve it, but I am grateful nonetheless. I hope the fight this chapter matched some of your expectations at least, and if not...well, **

_Deutzieg: Yeah, Genya, I agree. Fuck fate. (I love Fate series tho lol)_

_Well it turns out a good thing that I found the last chapter was updated much later, so I can read the next one without waiting looooool._

_How do I start this? Boi, I can't say anything. All the fight scenes are great, Genya and Zenitsu being BAMFs, I really, really can't wait to see how would you make Tanjirou's fight (hopefully, more badass lol) turns out. This is really exciting indeed!_

_I wonder, will you include the Spider mountain arc in this fic or not? Seeing how the boys going to need a VERY long treatment after this fight, possibly at the Butterfly Mansion? Lel, and a possible 1 or 2 TanjiKana interaction lmao._

_Also, rereading KnY made me realize that Zenitsu need to be nerfed._

_Literally, he almost one shoot every single demon he faced. ALONE. And he only need to 2 shoot for an upper moon, tho the weakest one, but still its upper moon._  
_the man MADE his own style, and claimed to be the fastest from other 6 styles._

_Zenitsu mock the shit outta his senior with that move, like "Who the fuck needs the other 5 style if I beat the crap outta you with my own style which I've achieved by doing 1st style, lmao."_

_Anyway, this review is getting to long and out of context, great chapter and as always, looking for the next one!_

**Fuck Fate. Haven't watched it yet myself though, but its on the list. **

**To compensate for that though, you got to wait a couple days more for this chapter as well, but these things are difficult to write sometimes.**

**I think its no big spoiler to say that yeah, Tanjiro will be stepping foot in Natagumo mountain in the forseable future, though that arc will go very different due to the inclusion of a few characters.**

**Yeah, Zenitsu is pretty OP the more you think about it. Big plans for Zenitsu though, he in particular will get his own big divergence from canon incoming. Because of that, things like the Flaming Thunder God might have to be handled just a bit different.**

**So yeah, thanks for your review and I hope to see you this chapter as well.**

_Mukuro1796: Very good chapter! The fights were fluid and detailed, I love them. The that Genya and Zenitsu kill the demons was badass, now the demon moon is left. After this I suppose that Tanjirou and the others are going to meet the Pilars, that can be interesting but I have to wait to the next chapter, read you in the next._

**I'm glad you liked the Zenitsu and Genya fights, they were both really fun to write, the finishing blow in special was planned way before anything else, and I think you can kinda say the same about this chapter, though you'll all see that yourselves next chapter.**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: Well in the canon Tanjiro always had a support of at least one pillar. With lower one he and inosuke did it yeah, but they could only do it while Rengoku protected more than half the train. The same can be said with upper four. The could go for a finishing blow mostly cuz Kanroji held back his final form XD. They didn't get pillar title for that but their ranks got a few lvl higher after that._

_But yeah I also wanted to see Tanjiro becoming a pillar. I think if you really want you could make him a pillar if he kills lower six. After all even if he kills him and gets pillar title he still won't be at the same lvl as the others pillars(not in the beginning at least). But in time he could get more and more powerful. So he could be an early pillar and others could help him get stronger. After all I am quite sure not all of the pillars were that powerful as they are now when they joined too. Sanemi lost a friend when fighting lower one after all. If he were to fight lower one now he would cut him to pieces in seconds. With being a pillar he would also get a territory to protect too._

_Also someone said that sun breathing is slowing up the regeneration. That's not true actually. The thing that's slows down regeneration is in fact a red nichirin blade. It also makes me wonder if Tanjiro is using a blade made especially for him. I know he took the other guy blade but if he still uses it, it would be a bad idea for him. The other guy apparently used a water style thus his blade is blue. And once a blade takes a collor it stays like that no matter who uses it. Blue don't really work together with sun breathing and Tanjiro wouldn't be able to use his full potential if he kept using it. Tanjiro and Yorichii blade is orginally black but when in fight Yorichii blade turns red and that's what is slowing up this regeneration. So yeah I hope that Tanjiro is using his own blade after all. He would need it._

_Can't wait for the next chapter, good luck!_

**You know, this is the first time I got a review that had very little to do with the chapter itself. I respond to these, but I never expect them to turn into conversations, but if that's what you wanna do, feel free to PM me, if only because I imagine it'd be easier talking through there than waiting for every chapter in order to get a reply. It's just impractical.**

**But yeah, even if he got all the help in the world, the fact alone that he killed an Upper Moon should be made way more of a big deal than it was, in my opinion. Especially the second time around. Should he manage to slay Kamanue singlehandedly though, that would indeed mean he qualifies for a Pillar, but that's something I'll deal with when I cross that bridge, though this chapter does give out a hint about that. **

**You're right about the Breath of the Sun as well, which means I'll have to go back and tweak one thing or another in earlier chapters. And yeah, while the manga doesn't ever specify it, there is something about the blade you use and your affinity for it. I don't think its really about color per say, Tanjiro started out as a Water Breathing user and his blade was black after all. Same here, the sword he took was form a water breathing user, though the blade was white instead of black. To some extent, it should be a limit on his own abilities until he gets a proper blade of his own, which I don't think its a big spoiler to say...well, he will. Especially considering the end of this chapter.**

**Anyway, yeah, thanks for the review.**

**So, I guess that's it for now. Favorite and Follow, that part is obvious, but do please Review. Seeing the numbers in this story go up is nice, but having made enough of an impact in someone to the point of writing down what they thought for me to see actually matters quite a bit more for me. So yeah, keep that in mind. Sky signing out.**


	11. Fire and Steel

Tanjiro Kamado held the wooden blade in his hands low, panting out heavily as a cloud of steam left his mouth. It was cold, near unbearably cold, the sweat running down his forehead was nearly frozen solid, and the several bruises that already lined his body didn't help either, but he knew better than to focus on anything but the opponent standing across of him, who also held a bokken of his own raised. The flames of thirteen torches flickered around him in the cold night wind, the ground covered in a feet deep layer of snow.

Without any indication at all, he just moved, and closed in distance in a matter of moments. His blade descended upon its target, only to be blocked easily, and the same thing happened the next two times he did so. Except the second time his opponent would knock his wooden sword aside and raise his own blade. For a moment, it seemed as if the bokken in his hands had disappeared entirely, and the next it was being thrust at high speeds inches from making contact with his face.

He grunted as the wood grazed the side of his face as he dodged and knocked it aside. Moving back for a moment only to dash in again with vigor renewed. He would strike every blow with unrelenting vigor, yet it was like attacking a wall, and every single blow would be met by a bokken that might as well have been there before he even began swinging. Bitting into his lower lip, he'd thrust his wooden sword right at his opponent, only to have it gently guided to the side as he fluidly moved past Tanjiro.

Grunting, the boy would blindly raise his blade behind him to try and block the attack that he knew would come to his back, but instead felt it in his fingers as the bokken was disarmed of his hand. He grunted while stumbling, trying to turn around only to realize his foe wasn't there. The boy would pause for a moment, but wasn't even given the time to think as he suddenly felt an unfamiliar smell, and turned to look at the left instinctively, only to the blade of bokken strike him across the face, knocking Tanjiro down to the ground.

"You've really gotten a lot better" His teacher and opponent, Yoriich, i said to his downed pupil, lowering his own bokken, "but there are still vices in your swordsmanship we need to have you iron out."

Tanjiro though, found himself lying on the ground, staring up into the dark sky above as snow slowly fell around him, "Yes, master." He responded quietly, though something else was in his mind. He'd never seen that blow coming…yet somehow, he knew exactly where it was going to land. What exactly had been the smell he'd felt a moment before the blow hit…?

Yoriichi only nodded, "Now, get up Tanjiro. I know there is fight in you yet."

* * *

Tanjiro grunted, opening his eyes as he lay amidst rubble of a broken wall, grunting at his broken arm, holding onto his broken katana. It all felt broken. But his spirit wasn't. In fact, even upon waking up, he didn't focus on the pain he was feeling, nor on his damaged weapon, bur rather on the dream he seemed to have had. He knew he'd only been out of it for a few seconds, but even then, he had a vision of his past as clear as day. Almost like his own subconcious was trying to tell him something…

"_…that's right_…" He realized, narrowing his eyes slightly, "_That's the smell I felt back then…the smell I began feeling near the end of my training…It was there back when I was fighting that Temari demon too…but this was the first time I've felt it so clearly. Maybe because of my situation…maybe because I was blinded for a second…whatever the case, I think I finally get what I've been smelling all this time after all…_" The Demon Slayer thought, pushing himself to sit up so as to look at the demon standing smugly a few feet from him, Lower Moon Six Kamanue who, mostly due to that metallic skin of his, was giving him the toughest fight of his life thus far. "_…it's the intent of one's attack._"

"Oh, so you're still alive there," The Demon Moon noted with a grin from ear to ear, "I'm glad. For a second there I thought you would die early on me. Hard as I might try to hit you, I'd still much rather have you begging for your life before you go."

"…sorry to disappoint," He said then, groaning as he struggled back to his feet using his good arm as support. The only good thing about the pile of rubble he'd been lying in was that it made it just a tad bit easier for him to get up rather than if he were down on the ground, though that did nothing to help on the fact that currently in his body there were more things hurting than not. Harder than that was staying on his feet once he actually got up. There was a slight stumble, but he still managed to find a position where he could stand properly, before spitting out a mix of blood and saliva at the ground, the former leaving what seemed like a permanent taste of metal in his mouth ever since he'd gotten cut from chin to lip in what he already guessed would be a permanent scar, supposing he managed to live that far. Regardless, Tanjiro was finally on his feet, and he'd take a deep breath while raising his broken katana at his opponent, his body bleeding, but his spirit focused, "I won't be begging today."

Seeing this, Kamanue couldn't resist, and finally burst laughing at the sight of his defiance, "Don't tell me you're serious…look at yourself. You at your best could only make a scratch on me, do you actually still think you have a chance of winning in your condition?"

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Tanjiro asked him, his expression locked in a complete poker face, "I'll kill you. Cut your head off at the neck, with this very blade I'm holding."

"And you keep repeating that nonsense…" Kamanue said then, slightly annoyed at the human's bravado, "I understand it might have seemed sensible to you at the start, but things changed. If you can't see at least that much, maybe I've been hitting you a bit harder than I should've."

"No. You're right." The Demon Slayer said then, narrowing his eyes while still showing nothing in his face, "Something's definitely changed."

The demon looked at him, narrowing his eyes not fully sure of what the boy had meant, but annoyed regardless, "I guess making you beg won't work after all." He admitted, both his arms morphing into blades as he stepped towards his target then, "I guess I'll just have to put you down without that satisfaction then."

Tanjiro just narrowed his eyes as the demon began approaching. It was a worrisome situation, no doubt about it. He couldn't fight the same way as before, and even if he could, that did him no good in the first place. If he were to rely on that, he was dead meat. Therefore, his only choice was to rely on the one thing this him had over the one that engaged Kamanue in the first place. That is to say the scent, the very same that had allowed him to dodge the earlier blow despite being blind, the same one that he recalled in his brief dream. Given he'd only utilized it to his advantage successfully this one time, it seemed like a ludicrous concept to rely on it, and yet he had nothing else to fall back on, so it was this or nothing.

The demon would then rush in, and Tanjiro breathed in while closing his eyes. He heard Kamanue's quickly approaching footsteps, but what he was really focused on was his sense of scent. It seemed like it took forever, with his opponent getting closer and closer, but he didn't move a muscle until the smell suddenly hit him and, once again, like instinct, he knew, "_On my head, from the left!_" He exclaimed, opening his eyes while ducking to the right, narrowly evading his opponent's bladed swing. The angered demon threw another blow, but even with his eyes opening, Tanjiro smelled his intention to attack nonetheless, "_On my neck, from the right!_" He thought again, backing up to evade the Lower Moon's bladed arm by less than half a foot. "_My chest, from the front!_" He sidestepped quickly in order to avoid having the Demon Moon's arm impale him.

"_Close…_" The swordsman noted, backing up while swinging his broken katana upwards to deflect one of his opponent's blows, who in turn exhibited notable frustration at having none of his attacks land while still chasing him, "_It only happens whenever its just about to hit me…but I can definitely smell it. Every time. If I can keep my distance and use this smell to dodge whenever he gets close, I might be able to buy myself some more time…_"

Kamanue's attacks would continue coming as he moved after the swordsman, throwing swing after swing, slash after slash, only for Tanjiro to fall just out of range with each one, sometimes by actual inches, "Why are you so persistent….?! Just get hit and die already!" He demanded while rushing in at his opponent, swinging his blade in a quick sequence of blows that despite their proximity were all dodged by the Demon Slayer, with the exception of the last thrust, which was deflected and held away with their blades locked by his remnant of a katana, "We both know there is nothing you can do to pierce my Dark Iron Armor…you can keep on dodging for as long as you want, but next time you make a mistake and fall…" He suddenly pushed Tanjiro back with his blade, sending the boy skidding a considerable distance back, "…I'll make sure you don't get back up again."

"_…well, he's right._" Tanjiro thought in frustration, "_I can dodge for as long as I can, but eventually my stamina will fail me and I'll make a mistake…I gotta figure out a way to get through that tough skin of his…but like he said, there's nothing I can do…_" He bit down onto his lower lip, knowing there must be some way to turn this to his favor, any way. And then, he noticed something he didn't expect to take inspiration from. That being his broken white blade, for it held a red reflection on its side, one of something Tanjiro knew was behind him. And as he watched the reflection on his katana's metal of flames engulfing the pier behind him, it all seemed to click in a sudden epiphany, "_…what an impossibly crazy plan._" He thought with eyes widened, staring off into space, "_But…its not like I have much of an alternative here…_"

He was forced again out of his trance by the smell of an attack incoming, and he moved in order to avoid receiving a diagonal slash across the chest. Another series of swings were thrown, but each of them were deflected by Tanjiro's broken katana before he backed away by jumping back again. Despite in a way being a major disadvantage, he had to admit that in his current state, it was far easier to swing around his broken katana effectively than it had been the unbroken blade. That was another part of the reason where he was managing to keep pace with Kamanue without having to push himself like he'd been doing.

The demon was upon him the moment his feet had touched the ground though, and their fight continued its way down the street in a spectacle of metal and blood. The way they moved however might've even seemed like a dance to an onlooker, Kamanue's crazed swings and restless assault being a violent dance of attack, while Tanjiro's careful and calculated movements, swinging his own blade solely in his defense and only when absolutely necessary, seemed like a dance of evasion instead. However, while the one attacking might've seemed like the one controlling the flow of battle, the secret was actually in their feet, with the human dodging quickly and often, his footwork moving from right to left, misguiding his foe so not to have him catch onto his intentions, and yet slowly managing to bring them closer to the burning pier at the road's end.

Soon enough, it would be impossible to hide where they were heading to from Kamanue, and upon disengaging from the demon, he'd see a smile cross the Lower Moon's features as the burning pier finally caught his notice, "Ahh…quite beautiful, isn't it? This really looks like Hinomaru's doing…I bet if we go in there, we might find the crisped body of that other Demon Slayer friend of yours." He said as his smile turned into a cruel grin before he rushed in again, "Well, whatcha say we take a look?!"

Tanjiro grunted as he started being pressed towards the flaming pier behind them by the demon's attacks. He tried at one point to move past him, but predictably had a blade intercept his dash. He blocked it with his own katana and was sent skidding back towards the pier in question, just like he planned. After all, he couldn't make his plan too obvious for Kamanue to catch on.

The Demon Moon ran back at him to resume his offensive, which the swordsman continued evading while throwing the occasional botched attempt of getting past his foe and leaving the pier, but Kamanue seemed way too focused on cutting him down to even notice as much while he intercepted the boy each and every time without failure. Soon enough, they'd start getting deeper into the pier, which meant fire now surrounded them on both ends both from the pier and the smaller buildings atop of it. Tanjiro panted, the intense heat from the flames around them making it somewhat hard to keep pace while in there.

Luckily, he was given a short reprieve when a flaming pole suddenly collapsed, nearly crushing the two of them and forcing demon and swordsman to disengage to opposite sides as the pole crashed onto the ground, its spreading flames separating the combatants. This however proved little of an obstacle for Kamanue though as the demon simply looked downat the pole for a moment before smirking and just walking past it, his Dark Iron Armor protecting him from the fire and allowing him to get across the line of flames separating him from the Demon Slayer. Tanjiro though would take that brief reprieve to turn heel and run off further into the pier.

As he kept going, the flames would grow bigger hotter and the smoke from it thicker. Tanjiro would found himself coughing, collapsing on a single knee on the grounds he covered his nose and mouth with the sleeve of his haori, "_This will have to do…_" He thought to himself, knowing all he could do now was take a breather and wait for his opponent.

Turns out though he wouldn't have to wait long, as soon enough he caught onto Kamanue's scent and rolled to the side before he even emerged from amidst the smoke, his bladed arm stabbing down on the ground where the Demon Slayer had been moments earlier. Upon rolling out of the way though, the swordsman would take in a deep breath while he was still crouched before rising to dodge the demon's subsequent blows.

"For all that skill you have, it seems you're not all that smart after all…" The Lower Moon noted swinging viciously with both his bladed arms to keep pressure on his opponent, "After all, you took this battle to somewhere you can barely breathe, surrounded by deadly fire that does nothing to me." He pointed out as he seemingly overswung, only to take the opportunity to spin around and swing his leg at Tanjiro just as it too morphed into a blade under the objective of claiming the human's head, something it came very close to succeeding as he only evaded thanks to smelling the intent behind the attack in time. Regardless, this would force him to back up next to an entire flaming house, leaving him little escape when Kamanue used the kick to toss himself towards the swordsman, preparing to impale him with in his arm, "Oh, well…who am I to argue with a man's choice for his grave?!"

Tanjiro stood at the ready, feet shifting his stance as he lowered his broken blade. Behind him the flames consuming a building bathed him with burning heat, while before him an iron coated demon moved in with the intent to kill. And yet, he chose to close his eyes and wait, focusing solely on his sense of smell. It wasn't as easy to get a clear read on the smell of an attack amidst all the smoke and ash, and it had very nearly cost him dearly a moment ago, which is why he chose to focus solely on finding the scent and making it right on time. He exhaled a hot breath, his muscles burning in preparation of what was to come.

"Breath of the Sun, Eighth Dance…" He declared, causing Kamanue to widen his eyes and jump in with his blade at the ready to stab the boy before he could pull off the technique, which was when Tanjiro opened his eyes wide as the smell hit him, "Parhelion Rainbow!" The swordsman announced, not even bothering to raise his blade, and causing the demon to raise a confuse eyebrow as to what he was doing right before his blade hit home…except rather than piercing right through Tanjiro; flesh, bone and muscle alike, it instead just went through him as if he was a mirage, leading to the blade hitting only the wall behind him, which combined with the weight and momentum put into the blow, caused Kamanue to rush straight through the wall as the burning house collapsed on top of him entirely.

Meanwhile Tanjiro would land from a triple flip over his opponent's head in a perfect arc and immediately collapse onto all fours as he felt both his lungs and muscles ache violently from him pushing himself through yet another Breath of the Sun technique despite his body's state. Parhelion Rainbow was the only evasive move of the Breath of the Sun, and often left behind an afterimage for a few moments after he moved, which was how he was able to trick Kamanue there in the first place. And speaking of which, he knew the demon wouldn't be held down behind the collapsed house for long. At least so far his plan seemed to have worked, but he was far from done yet…

Breathing deeply, he rose again with some struggle, and just in time too, as the remnants of the house behind him were blasted apart. Kamanue came walking out, looking tremendously annoyed as his Dark Iron Armor shined a dark red from absorbing all the heat from the flames, his metallic chest now bare as he'd discarded his burning shirt "You really thought a parlor trick like that would be enough to get rid of me?!" He grunted out raising both his blades crossed. "Enough of this, boy…just die already!"

The demon would rush in angrily, and for all of Tanjiro's pains and troubles, he noted that the demon's anger at least made him predictable. He dodged the attempt to scissor his head off with the two hand blade by backing up, and moved to the side to evade a vertical swing that followed, as well as the horizontal one after that. His opponent lacked in technique with his blows, as well as in speed, even compared to a wounded Tanjiro since his metal weighed him down so much. His strength and defense might've been far out of the human's league, and yet they were also obstacles to his opponent in and of themselves. Unchallenged, Kamanue had grown unrefined in using his powers, and the only reason for being unchallenged in the first place was due to outlasting every single opponent. His ability forced every battle against a Demon Slayer into a War of Attrition. It was because of this that Tanjiro was in the condition he was in the first place, his own mistakes piling up and weighing him down…but now he felt confident in his own win. Which was part of the reason why, when Kamanue turned around to throw another blow on him, he'd instead be met with the remnant's of the swordsman's blade instead slashing him across the eye.

The Demon Moon would cry out in pain, and lash out at the swordsman immediately, only for him to back away the moment his blow hit. Kamanue would groan out, covering his damaged eye as it healed while using the good one to glare daggers at Tanjiro. "You…you're such a nuisance…just do like every other and fall already, you damn Demon Slayer!" He cried out, preparing to dash out in a blind rage right at the swordsman, only to be surprised when the boy beat him to it and rushed in first instead. Grunting out, Kamanue slashed at the approaching Tanjiro, but his sense of depth was obviously skewed as he missed by a fair margin, allowing the swordsman to use his momentum to leap in, landing on the side of his blade mid swing and using it as a midair stepping stone, before placing another foot right on the Lower Moon's head and using it to trampoline himself, right over yet another burning house, landing on its other side, right on top of the rail separating the burning pier from the endless ocean that stretched to the horizon.

While still crouched in the rail, Tanjiro would turn around, glancing briefly at the burning house he'd landed behind with narrowed eyes, before what he was expecting came, and a livid Kamanue burst straight out of the burning wall, having seemingly just rushed straight through the house mindlessly, already slashing out with both blades at the swordsman. This, however, turned out to be a bit too much for the pier, which by itself was already heavily damaged by the flames, and both combatants would feel it shake slightly before the entire section they were in broke apart alongside the collapsed house, and both Tanjiro and Kamanue would find themselves falling into the cold dark waters below, followed by a great deal of debris and rubble.

As they went underwater and had their worlds consumed by almost complete darkness, Tanjiro would for a moment feel something warm and metallic graze at his foot before it sunk to the depths underneath a great deal of wood and stone, with him rising back to the surface and taking a deep breath, before starting to swim with struggle towards the beach located by the pier. It was a long swim, and it would take a while, especially with his broken arm, but by the time he finally reached dry sand, he'd just numbly let go of the broken katana he'd carried all the way with him before dryly collapsing on his back, breathing heavily as he stared out into the sky above.

Tanjiro tried his best to get as much rest as he could without giving into his own tiredness and falling unconcious. He stayed there a while, he wasn't sure how long, but by the time he was disturbed from his rest the sky had began changing color from a black to a very dark blue, fading to a lighter shade along the horizon, signaling the approaching dawn. That though was the good news. The bad news and what had shaken him from his rest though was, uninevitably enough, the smell he'd been waiting for. Sure enough, he'd look up, and finally emerging from the waves was the still metal coated figure of Kamanue, immediately locking eyes on Tanjiro as he walked towards the shore.

The Demon Slayer in turn narrowed his eyes as he sat up, but would silently reach for the broken katana he dropped in the sand as he used his good arm to help himself back to his feet, his body still aching and tired, but at least not holding itself together on pure adrenaline anymore now that he'd had a chance to rest a bit. He knew this was coming from the start though. Demons didn't need to breathe, sinking to the bottom of the ocean even under that debris only served to slow him down slightly, so of course the bastard would come back. Regardless, he'd undress and drop his wet and heavy haori on the sand before walking towards sea in order to meet the demon.

As Kamanue emerged from the ocean and Tanjiro made his way towards it, the two of them would eventually find themselves standing some thirty feet across from one another, the infinite vastness of the sea on one end and Kaigara on the other, a burning pier lining the background as they faced each other in the silent beach. Neither said a word for a moment, the blowing wind and the crashing waves being the only sounds either would hear.

Finally though, it was the demon who chose to break the silence, "So was that your plan? Running around until dawn comes and waiting for the sun to burn me up?" He asked, calmer than before, "Don't think I can't still kill you and hide away before the sun even comes up…"

"No," Tanjiro responded, "I'm actually done running. Too tired for that." He admitted while raising his broken katana, "No matter happens…this fight is ending in the next blow."

Kamanue smirked, letting out a smell chuckle, "Ah…at last something we can agree on." He said, raising his left arm as its length once again morphed into a blade, "You know…you're an annoying and pestering brat, and I'll take joy in killing you…but you are also the one that pushed me the farthest in a fight since I've became a demon. You can die being proud of that."

Tanjiro didn't respond, opting to stick with a blank expression as he held down his broken katana to the side, gripping it tightly while breathing in deeply. Despite the pain in his left arm, he managed to lower it enough so his hand could hold the scabbard while the other one returned the blade to it as so to draw it in the most optimal moment.

Both opponents stared each other down silently, one's grin contrasted to the other's poker face, yet neither them showed any sign of movement. A wave crashed onto the shore around them and stretched out into the beach, drenching both their feet in their process. Neither dared to look away as the wave retracted back into the sea, and only once it had disappeared entirely did both of them move at once.

Tanjiro and Kamanue rushed at one another at an equal pace, quickly beginning to close distance with one another. As they approached each other, both knowing only one of them would live past the next exchange, time would slow down and the swordsman gripped his katana tighter, moving to his opponent's left as to get the best chance at a clean hit from his position, "_Not yet_…_you only get one chance at this…so wait for the smell…_"

Thirty feet had quickly become fifteen, which turned to ten, and then to five. At which point Kamanue swung his darkened arm turned blade horizontally with the clear objective of decapitating the swordsman just as he had been trying so hard to do to to him.

Tanjiro meanwhile, held onto drawing his blade yet, chanting to himself silently, "_Breath of the Sun…First Dance…_" He held it, even when he felt the pressure building up beneath his scabbard, and as the Lower Moon's blade inched closer to his neck, he'd finally feel the scent draw it with one mighty swing, "Waltz!"

The dark blade was supposed to hit home first, of course, but Kamanue was the slower of the two, which allowed Tanjiro's edge to intercept his own just as it approached the boy's neck. Even with the flames surrounding it, that one handed swing wouldn't even have been enough to do anything more than scratch his skin. Or it should've. What happened instead was that both blades held their pressure for a moment against one another, before, inexplicably enough, Tanjiro's flame coated white blade of nichirin triumphed, cutting through the Dark Iron and shortening the blade, just enough so the swing itself would miss the Demon Slayer's neck.

As for Kamanue, he'd barely be allowed to have his shock at the situation settle as Tanjiro's katana continued on its trajectory, an upwards diagonal line straight for his neck. The blade bit in, catching it at his throat, but not quite managing to pierce through all the way. Its wielder however would grip it tighter and try to put the full pressure of both their matched momentum to his blade as he cried out determinately, which in turn gave Tanjiro the last necessary push to make it, his blade cutting all the way through the Dark Iron of Kamanue's neck and finally relieving Lower Moon Six of his head as they both rushed past one another, body and head alike hitting the ground as the swordsman stumbled and collapsed to the ground on his knees.

* * *

It was inexplicable. It was nonsensical. It was impossible.

Those were the things going through Kamanue's head the moment after he noticed its separation from his neck. He knew for a fact that Tanjiro Kamado was stronger than any of the one hundred and twenty six Demon Slayers he'd bested in the past, rank be damned, but not even for a moment in this battle before the decisive clash in the beach did he even imagine that he'd be brought down like this. It simply made no sense that this boy would be able to cut through Dark Iron with that one flimsy attack when every other attempt of his to do so had failed.

With his still Dark Iron coated head dully hitting the sand, Kamanue would stare at Tanjiro's back as the Demon Slayer remained kneeled while panting. He would glance tiredly over his shoulder at the decapitated Demon Moon , and though the still very much so shocked demon didn't utter a word, his thoughts seemed to get through to the swordsman, "…you wanna know how. How I managed to cut through your neck here when every other time I tried was a total failure."

Kamanue didn't respond, but the way he was staring still made it clear he indeed waited an answer, and Tanjiro would sigh before raising his broken katana, the flames in it having long faded, and staring off into its blade, "…a good swordsman should know his own katana." He explained. "When a blade is freshly forged, still burning red from the flames with which it was moulded, swordsmiths tend to have it undergo a water treatment in order to cool down the metal. This is known as quenching. A very delicate procedure made to strengthen the steel…however, if done wrong, it can have the opposite effect. The metal loses its ability to bend and adapt under stress. All you need then is one good blow…and it snaps."

The decapitated demon took a moment, but slowly widened his eyes as the implication of Tanjiro's words began dawning upon him, "…the pier…the fire…falling into the sea…did you plan all that…?"

"…more or less. I did what I could with what I have." The Demon Slayer admitted, lowering his blade as he stared up into the sky, "There was no real way of knowing if it would work in the first place. Different metals, different reactions after all. In the end though, I guess it paid off…"

Kamanue only stared silently at the Demon Slayer before him. Had his fight gotten only slightly differently, had they not ended up close to that burning pier, this would've proved a certain win for him. And yet they didn't, he'd been outsmarted, and now there he lay, slowly dying as the Dark Iron coating his head only slowed his eventual disintegration ever so slightly.

Tanjiro would rise back up to his feet then with some difficulty, looking over at the fallen demon, "My promise has been kept. The dead are avenged and you won't be hurting humans anymore." He said, looking down for a moment before glancing back at Kamanue one last time, the look on his face not one of hatred or anger any longer, but strangely, he almost seemed…sympathetic, "I honestly hope you can find some closure with the time you have left."

With that said, he'd begin walking off in a stumble towards Kaigara. His pace was slow and his steps pained, and he'd make it all of fifty feet before his body gave in and he collapsed entirely on the sand, the weight of all the fighting seemingly overwhelming his body. Kamanue just watched in silence all the way, and while normally he'd find something so human to be utterly pathetic, it instead left him with an unexpected feeling, one he never thought he'd feel for a Demon Slayer of all people. What he felt was an odd sense of jealousy towards Tanjiro.

He'd been a demon for so long, he'd almost forgotten. But he wasn't always a feared Demon Moon, and he wasn't always a demon. No, he wasn't even always Kamanue…his name, his human name, had once been Koharu. Before he had all this power, he was the bastard son of the head of the renowned Tetsuki Clan, who'd gained their great wealth through their exploits as navigators of olden times sailing to distant lands and bringing back all sorts of goods. His mother was a servant to the family, and her affair with the head had apparently resulted in him being born. She died of disease when he was still young, so he worked most of his youth as a servant himself in the family house. His father's wife despised his existence, and his two older half-brothers even more so, while his father was completely indifferent to his existence. He remembered more than once being beaten nearly to death by his brothers, and no one ever batted an eye.

His father had died when he was fourteen, and the eldest son of the family took his place. Life turned into hell for him after that. One of the few memories he'd always retained from his human life even so many years later was when he ended up tripping while carrying a tray of tea and accidentally burning the younger of his older brothers, and in turn had the symbol of the family branded right on his face with hot iron, the Tetsuki's Iron Anchor, indicating him as basically property of the family from then on to the day he died.

That day, as it turns out, wasn't that far off. It wasn't long after that incident that Koharu would give into his despair and run off into the woods at night to try and commit suicide. He would've succeeded too, hadn't it been for Muzan Kibutsuji discovering him. That man would give him his second chance at a life, and he would be reborn as Kamanue. His first act with his newly gained power was to butcher every single last member of the Tetsuki family, leaving him as the last of a century-old bloodline.

He was a powerful demon from the start, and the power he'd gained was intoxicating. He'd devour humans by the dozens with no remorse in order to increase that power, while torturing other demons he'd came across for fun and to test his strength, and when Demon Slayers began coming after him, he'd slaughter them too. It was five years before he first developed his Demon Blood Art, and even if it was far less powerful as to what would become of it, he had become convinced by then that unlike his human self, he stood above every other creature on earth with the exception of Muzan himself, the true top of the Food Chain. Throughout his life however, that concept would come to be defied and remolded three times.

The first had been twenty years ago, when he first came across a Pillar, a man with long, orange and red hair, as well was a crimson blade of nichirin. He thought the man to be just like any of the previous Demon Slayers he'd come across, but he was wrong. The Flame Pillar had nearly decapitated him, cutting three quarters of the way into his neck with the one slash. The only reasons he'd survived that day were the Dark Iron surrounding his neck that managed to just barely stop that flaming katana and the cliff he'd leapt of in order to escape the Demon Slayer. That was when he learned there were humans capable of surpassing demons with sheer technique, and the thought of once again being underneath someone in this Food Chain once again made him furious, even if at the time he wasn't quite sure why.

The second time was years later, when he'd been pursuing this spider-like demon girl around the vicinities of Natagumo Mountain, and he'd come across the previous holder of the rank he'd come to hold himself. Lower Moon Six Rui. At the time, he'd heard about Demon Moons from other demons, but he thought that still just a myth, and he unwisely attacked the demon as well. Rui had made short work of him, as the strings he controlled had enough cutting power in them to pierce even his Dark Iron. Of course, even if he mutilated his foe again and again, he still had no real way of killing him, so despite all the pain he'd go through, Kamanue would still be able to escape from the strings holding him up to be consumed by sunlight and run offfrom Natagumo Mountain. Rather than being demoralized though, this had a different effect on him. Firstly, he now knew that even though he wasn't on top of the food chain, there were higher ranks to strive for yet so he could climb higher and higher. Secondly, with enough power he might even be able to do much like Rui had done and assemble a group of demons to work under himself.

He'd get stronger in the following years as he was further motivated to become one of the Demon Moons himself, eating more and more humans. Five years ago was when he'd come across Hinomaru and Nobiru, weaker demons with potential, trying to survive. He'd beat them both down and force them into an agreement under him, forcing both to done the same mark as himself in a show of loyalty. With the two helping him, they'd be able to acquire even more humans for them to devour while discreetly moving from town to town, and in time as more members joined this would come to be known as the Tetsuki Gang, the name subconsciously taken from his own former clan despite not even remembering it anymore at that point.

And then finally, only two years ago, he'd be met by Muzan again, and finally given the rank he'd pined for during so many years. That night he was officially named Lower Moon Six, but even then, he remembered that before Muzan left he managed to gather enough courage and ask him exactly what he had to do in order to ascend further into the Demon Moons. What was necessary for one like himself to become an Upper Moon Demon?

"_Lower Moons like yourselves kill Demon Slayers. Upper Moons however kill Pillars. That is the difference between the two._" He'd said, which surprised Kamanue given his own experience with a Pillar, "_If you wish to ascend, the only thing you can do is grow stronger and stronger, then kill me a Pillar. That should be the bare minimum you can do if you have any chance of becoming an Upper Moon._"

That day, for the first time in his life, he'd felt like he knew his own place in the order of things. He'd risen to become one of the strongest demons, yet he was still in a way at the bottom. He tried hard to expand his gang, to become a stronger demon worthy of his title, someone who could kill a Pillar. He'd even fed his own Demon Moon blood to his underlings, allowing them to awaken their own Demon Blood Arts and become stronger themselves. He'd just taken his first step as a Demon Moon, and would do anything he could to become worthy of ascending the ranks even further.

But then came the third and final time. Today, when he met Tanjiro Kamado and had the very place he stood on in this world defied dor the last time. He was able to tell very quickly that the boy was strong, and had been agitated when seeing him use similar flames to the ones that nearly took his life years ago when he came face to face with a Pillar. And yet, he never imagined that a mere Demon Slayer, who the very Progenitor of all demons said he should be able to kill by his very nature, would turn the tides on him and claimshis head. And yet somehow it happened. No matter how many times he knocked the boy down, no matter how ferociously he attacked, Tanjiro would just get up again and again, and again, until he finally managed to finally slay his foe.

His whole life he'd fled and cowered against those stronger than himself, be it his brothers, the Flame Pillar or even a fellow Lower Moon, while bullying the meek he came across, the various humans he'd slain and several dozen Demon Slayer who never stood a chance against his Dark Iron. Until Tanjiro came along, and even when everything said he should fall, he'd risen up to the odds and beaten them. He did everything Kamanue ever wanted to do, but was too afraid to risk doing. So yes, he was jealous…but mixed with that was an odd sense of admiration.

As ash began fully consuming him, he spent his last moments of sight to briefly watch the unconscious Demon Slayer lying there on the beach. Tanjiro had kept his promise, and even with a broken blade he'd still managed to cut straight through his meek food chain philosophy. He could only wonder how far someone like that would go in this world. Sighing mentally, he turned his gaze away, back into the sea, and spent his last few moments watching as the first rays of light pierced the horizon, before a wave came and engulfed his decapitated head. By the time it was gone, so was he, his ashes washed away by the sea.

**A/N: Alright, so finally we wrap up the fight with Tanjiro vs Kamanue. Its hard to believe I've gotten this far into the story considering how long this seems to have been mulling over in my head. Its insanely satisfying. This arc really stretched out longer than I thought it would. I think it'll be wrapping up along the next two chapters or so. The epilogue here is very important, after all. At that point though, this story arc will have encompassed half of the story I've written, which really is quite something. From now on though, most arcs will be bigger like this one, while smaller one to two chapter arcs start becoming a rarity. **

**Now, as for the chapter itself, there is a lot to say. At the end of last chapter and as most prominently explained in this one, Tanjiro began sensing the scent of an attack's intent, as I like to put it. Not a very good name, but I can't think of anything better. In canon, this is something he wouldn't have gotten after he's long gotten the mark, just before fighting Upper Moon 4. My reasoning as to how he achieved something like that much earlier though is because his training method for the last two years was very similar to the Canon method utilized by Tanjiro in his training. Except in Canon, Tanjiro fights a robot that mimics Yoriishi's movements to attain that. Here, he fought actual Yoriichi, and did so repeatedly every night for two years, so I think I can be excused by that much, but the opening scene flashback sequence is meant to hammer that point home. **

**What else...the plan I used for Tanjiro to defeat Kamanue is a bit out there. I'm no swordsmith, obviously. Wordsmith, maybe, but no swordsmith. That said, my knowledge about how quenching worked and how it affects a blade's ductility comes mostly from online articles and wikipedia entries. It seemed reliable enough, and seeing as we're dealing with magic demon metal, I dont think its much of a stretch.**

**Also, some things concerning Kamanue's backstory. The Flame Pillar he encountered first and foremost was none other than Kyojuro's father, Shinjuro Rengoku, before he quit the Demon Slayers some years later. He also encountered Rui and a member of his spider family, intended to be the sister who gets killed by him in the anime flashback. Rui here is intended to be Lower Moon Six at the time. I'm not too sure how old he is or what the chronology here, but for the sake of this story, I'll say he was the one to step into the role to replace Kyogai a bit over a decade ago, and remained Lower Moon Six until Sanemi and his friend slew Lower Moon One two years ago, right before he became the Wind Pillar. This moved everyone up one spot, meaning Rui became Lower Moon Five as he is now, and Kamanue was granted the newly emptied spot of Lower Moon Six.**

**Aside from my chapter, I also got something else to comment on, though that would count as SPOILERS if you haven't caught onto the leaks of Kimetsu No Yaiba's latest chapter, number 191, but from the way things are going, my whole idea of this being a more tragic take on the series is going down the drain since pretty much every remaining Pillar is down and bleeding with infected cuts and lost limbs. Not even Tanjiro with his cool new powerup looks like he'll make it out of this right now, though Nezuko's arrival might change things. At least we got a cute lil' moment between Tanjiro and Kanao, but anyway, we can only wait and see now. Oh, that chapter has also an awesome cover with Tanjiro and Yoriishi back to back, which I'll be using as the cover image from this fic for now on, at least until some generous and talented person offers to do a comission of My Tanjiro to replace it...which I'm sure will happen.**

**Thanks to DownwardDive. Still waiting for that Review you promised man. No pressure.**

**With that said, onto the reviews. **

_TheDarkHollow: __Great fight. I like how both relied on their surroundings; in a real fight, one moment of distraction is enough to get you killed, and it's a nice change from the usual straight-forward fights we see/read. It was a bit cruel to end it with a cliffhanger, but that makes the next one all the more exciting._  
_Can't wait._

**Well, any real fight like would end in seconds, so that's not what I'm trying to emulate. My job is honestly to mostly distract you guys from the fact that the non-fatal blows seemed to land a lot easier than the fatal ones. I'm glad you liked the whole environment thing I did though, since in this chapter it kind of become the crucial aspect to the fight's conclusion. That said, I hope you liked this too.**

_A Fan Said: Oof this chapter was awesome._

**Thanks. I try.**

_Mukuro1796 This chapter was awesome, one entire chapter for the fight, my respects very good job! to not break the routine Tanjiro ends with his blade broken, but that aside I can't wait to read the end of the fight in the next chapter and see how Tanjiro overcome the odds againt him with all the injuries he got, well I read you in the next chapter._

**You pretty much guessed the whole chapter when you said "Tanjiro overcomes the odds againt him with all the injuries he got", but I hoped you like the execution regardless**

_DriftingPhoenix: If Tanjiro doesn't manage to slay lower moon 6, will a hashira do it? If so, I wonder who the hashira would be. If it's Giyu, then it'll be awkward._

**The fact that you asked this means I did at the very least a good job at making it seem like Tanjiro wasn't gonna be able to win this. If a Pillar did arrive to finish this though, it wouldn't actually be Giyu. Who ****though...ah, well, keep reading and you'll see.**

**With all that responded to, I anxiously await everyone who hasn't to Follow + Favorite this, because that sure makes me happy. If you have already, do take the time to leave a Review. Last two chapters have been below average as far as the number of reviews go, which is really frustrating since I'm so close to beating a hundred reviews, yet another benchmark. So yeah, do contribute to that, guys. After all, next chapter we're reaching 100k words, so that by itself will be a benchmark. That though is the least special thing about next chapter. I really don't hype myself often, but stick around, because next chapter will be a BIG DEAL. So yeah, Sky signing out. **


	12. Gathering of the Damned

Opening his eyes slowly, Tanjiro would groan as his conscious slowly returned to him. Though dizzied still, he'd make out the sunlight piercing through the windows of an unfamiliar room as he laid down in a bed. His clothes had been changed at some point while he was our, replaced with loose trousers and a long sleeved buttoned up shirt. His broken left arm was in a cast, and the cut stretching from his chin tolower lip was bandaged. A lot of things hurt, but he chose not to focus much on that as he tried sitting up to figure out just where he was.

"Ah, so you're finally awake." A familiar voice said next to him, and as Tanjiro looked to its direction he'd see Zenitsu, sat up in a bed beside him wearing the same clothes as himself, except his shirt was unbuttoned, revealing his bandaged chest below, "That must've been quite the fight you got into. You were out of it for two whole days…"

"Zenitsu…?" He asked, still somewhat dazed, understandably so considering how long he was out for, "What…where is this place?"

"An infirmary." The blond boy explained, "Lots of people ended up injured because of those demons, but luckily someone found and recognized us as Demon Slayers, so they separated a corner for us to heal up as thanks. Honestly though, I can't even remember properly about what happened. One moment I was fighting that demon, and the the next, I was waking up in a roof somewhere with my ribs broken…it was really weird…"

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes then, scowling slightly. Rather than paying much attention to Zenitsu's situation, he'd instead focus on what seemed like a more important problem, "…you wouldn't happen to know anything about another Demon Slayer around since you woke up, no?"

"Another…? Ah. Yeah, you must be referring to the grumpy guy behind you." He said, pointing past Tanjiro, at which the boy would blink, and turn around to see that indeed, there was another bed to his right, and in it was the same buzzcut haired boy, lying down seemingly asleep facing away from them in the same hospital clothes as the other two. "I tried to make some small talk with him to pass the time, but he told me to shut up and leave him be just about every time, so since that I've just been pretending he isn't here."

Seeing that, Tanjiro's shoulders would still relax upon seeing that his fellow Demon Slayer was fine. He hadn't exactly had time to worry, but the thought might have crossed his mind that the burning pier might have meant his fellow Slayers weren't as successful as himself, but now with both of them in the room, he felt a lot more relieved. "…we actually did it, huh?" The boy mused out loud, "We managed to take down the whole gang of demons..."

Zenitsu pursed his lips, "Well, technically, like I said-"

"I know." Tanjiro cut him short, "and I can't really tell you what exactly happened to you, but…the very fact that you're here alive must mean your demon was killed as well."

The blond Demon Slayer opened his mouth to say something, only to stop himself short. He was probably about to suggest that the demon might have ran away, but after fighting Nobiru himself, Tanjiro knew it was very unlikely for a demon like that to turn tail and run while leaving an unconscious Zenitsu behind like that. The only logical explanation was that he was indeed dead, however that happened. "…I guess you're right." He conceeded, before pausing suddenly as he seemed to realize something, "…wait…does that mean you actually managed to kill that Demon Moon…?"

Tanjiro nodded, staring off to the side, "It was the toughest opponent I ever faced, and I only managed to beat him with a mix of luck and quick thinking." He admitted, "I guess the only thing that matters though is that he is dead and I'm still alive." The burgundy haired boy looked back at Zenitsu and was caught off guard by his gaping expression, "Uh…why are you looking at me like that? Is there something in my face…?"

"…you…you do know what that means, right…?" He asked, shaking in disbelief, to which Tanjiro could only blink in confusion.

"Uh…not really…?"

Zenitsu had to take a deep breath in order to calm himself, "…okay…Tanjiro, normal Demon Slayers don't kill Demon Moons. Pillars do."

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes, somewhat annoyed to hear that, "Yeah, the demon told me something similar, but-"

"No, listen!" Zenitsu insisted, surprising his fellow Demon Slayer with his tone, considering how meek the boy usually seemed, "My old master…Gramps…he taught all I know about being a Demon Slayer. Back when he was one himself, he fought and managed to kill Lower Moon Four…and he was immediately afterwards given the title of Thunder Pillar!"

Tanjiro froze then for a second, "Wait…you don't mean-"

"NO WAY!" They were both suddenly startled by a sudden scream, and would both turn to see the third of the Demon Slayer, the boy with the scars, now sitting up on his own bed, with bandages covering all of his visible body up to the neck as he stared daggers straight at Tanjiro, "There's no way this runt bastard is made a Pillar that easily! I'm supposed to be the one who becomes a Pillar! You didn't even fucking tell me there was a Demon Moon around! Was that your plan all along so you could still my kill and get a promotion, you bastard?!"

"…I knew he wasn't asleep." Zenitsu muttered in a deadpan, "His breathing was way too heavy."

"What kind of freak can hear something like someone's breathing all the way across the room, ya yellow haired weirdo?!" The scarred boy inquired angrily, turning his rage to the other Demon Slayer.

"Stop screaming, you idiot!" Zenitsu exclaimed, beginning to talk quite loudly himself, hypocritically enough, "There's people trying to rest and heal here, you want them to kick us out?!"

"Who are you calling an idiot?!" The angry boy asked in return, "You wanna go?! Cause I'll be happy to beat you ass down!"

As the two boys continued shouting at each other from opposite sides of the room, Tanjiro sat in the bed between them staring down at his lap thoughtfully, "_…a Pillar, huh…?_" He sighed, collapsing back down on his bed, "_I wonder…"_

* * *

That very night, unaware to any of the boys healing back in Kaigara, the ripple of Tanjiro's actions would bring consequences bigger than he yet knew. After all, Kamanue was not the only Lower Moon out there, and somewhere far away from the seaside town, hidden in the depths of Natagumo Mountain, was a decrepit mansion, and standing over a series of intersecting webs above it was a pale boy watching the full moon above silently.

The boy wore a white kimono adorned by the shape of a spider's web on both its sleeves and his hakama, his hair was messy and long, and his face was adorned by dark red dots, his eye both red in sclerae and his eyes pale blue, the left one in particular was normally hidden underneath a fringe, but in this occasion, as he watched the sky, the boy had combed his hair so the kanji for five was plainly evident in his iris. Lower Moon Five, or Rui as he was better known, was deep in his own thoughts, and didn't think anything could interrupt him. Nothing would even dare. But he was wrong. His relaxing sky gazing session was suddenly interrupted by a shrill distorted sound of a string being strummed, and suddenly the world around him had changed.

Rather than staring out into the sky above the nighttime forest in the mountains, Rui suddenly found himself somewhere completely different. Somewhere…irrational. He stood in a wooden platform rather than in his strings, and around that platform was a maze of impossible proportions and layout. Vertical walkways, upside down doors, empty rooms, various tatami strewn about, and no clear discerning point between ground and ceiling. There were always stairs, corridors, pathways, leading somewhere and nowhere at the same time. It was all pure chaos, words failing completely to describe what he saw around him. Though there was no way of knowing that, the word Rui in fact was looking for was escheresque, even if that didn't exist here.

Regardless, the one thing that stood apart in the endless confusion of this maze was a black haired woman holding what seemed to be a biwa sitting in a far off platform at what seemed to be the epicenter of it all, space itself seeming to distort around her, "_What is this…? Where am I?_" Rui wondered to himself, "_Was all this that woman's doing?_"

He would get his response soon enough as said woman raised her hand once again before bringing it down to strum into the biwa, a shrill sound that seemed to echo endlessly across the world and once again distorting space, as the moment her fingers hit her instrument's string, Rui would be teleported yet again, and his eyes widened at what he saw then.

He was still in the same twisted world, that much was obvious to him, now standing at the edge of an upside down set of stairs. What surprised him though was that he was not alone. Scattered around the same general area were four other demons standing in different angles and positions, one in a sideways walkway, one in a horizontal corridor and one standing by an open door facing down. They only had a brief moment to exchange glances, but one thing became clear immediately, and this was that each and every single demon present sported a different kanji for a number from one to five in one of their eyes, so it didn't take long for them to realize that the ones present were in fact the members of the lower half of the Twelve Demon Moons. There was another strumming of the Biwa, and the world switched again as suddenly all five Lower Moons were teleported together to a single square platform

"...so that is what this is." A demon with the appearance of an older man wearing a dark cyan gi broke the silence. He had a stocky build with pale skin, lined with black vein-like patterns down his face as well as long, dark purple hair that he left down and a short jagged beard around his jawline, as well as golden, cat-like eyes with the kanji for Lower Moon Two etched into his left. "A gathering of the Lower Moons..."

"Indeed...its quite interesting." Another demon noted, this one taking the form of a pale and skinny young man with feminine features. He wore a long, black button-up coat and a white dress shirt, as well as a pair of pinstriped pale gray pants and plain shoes of a similar color. He had chin-length hair of a dark color which he wore parted to his right, the right side slicked back behind his ear. His hair faded into a red-orange color near the ends, but appeared blue at the tips of the two longer, shoulder length strands that curved upwards and outwards below the base of his neck, from under the rest of his hair. Lastly, his eyes were dark blue, one with a single slit for a pupil and the other donning the kanji for Lower Moon One. "Even I have never seen something like this before."

"...Lower Moon Six isn't here." A third demon quietly noted. She was the only female in the group sickly, yellowish skin, two dark red stripes across her cheeks, and a pair of white horns protruding from either side of her forehead. Her eyes were gray with white rings around the sides and dark red sclera with the kanji for 'Lower Moon Four' carved over her left iris, framed by a set of notably long eyelashes. She also possessed chin-length white hair with shorter bangs between her horns, wearing a plain red kimono with a black-and-white fur-lined collar tied up at the back with a large, dark purple bow.

"Who cares about that weakling?!" The final demon grunted out. He was a young man of average stature and pale, grayish-white skin, three large; cross-shaped scars cut into his cheeks and the center of his forehead as well as noticeably pointed ears. His eyes were wide and sharp with orange irises, the kanji for 'Lower Moon Three' etched into his left. He wore a dotted, bamboo-colored yukata with a pinstripe pattern, a piece of dark cloth around his waist, and a lighter one around his neck, as well as two golden hoop earrings on each ear and a pair of wooden sandals with black straps. "What I really wanna know is why we're all here in the first place..."

Rui didn't bother to mingle much with the other Lower Moons, trying himself to figure out what exactly would merit gathering all of them together like this. If not for the sheer madness of the world around them and the obviously demonic means they had been brought to there, he might have even thought this was a trap set by Demon Slayer Pillars to slay them all in one go. Before he could arrive at a better explanation though, his concentration along with everyone else's would be broken by the shrill string of the biwa ringing out again. None of them were moved this time, as they still stood together in the same place. However, there was now a walkway leading seemingly out from the platform they stood out into foreverness...and most importantly, the newcomer that happened to be sitting cross legged beside it, right at the edge of the platform.

Again, there was a moment of silence as none of the Lower Moons were quite sure of what to make of the stranger. He was just sitting there cross-legged with his back facing them, his only discernible features being his long dark hair and patterned purple and black kimono. Rui wondered for a moment if this was the Lower Moon Six they had been missing, but something about the man told him otherwise. The one who eventually broke the silence however was actually Lower Moon Three, who asked the question in everyone's minds, "Hey...are you just gonna sit there, man? Just who the hell are you?"

The man gave no response, only shifted about, though from that they would be able to make out another detail from the stranger, and that was the weapon sheathed in his waist, where his hand was resting, "...is that...a katana...?" Lower Moon Three asked in a mixture of shock and confusion. Hearing that, for a second, Rui felt as if his theory might have been correct, but it was still too ridiculous, even with this one swordsman there. Regardless, none of the Lower Moons seemed very comfortable around the stranger, seeing as there wasn't a single one of them with their guard down at the moment.

With the stranger remaining silent however, and none of them yet daring to approach, things remained stagnant, until Lower Moon Two narrowed his eyes and decided to take his chances, approaching the purple clad man. "Listen, we asked you a question." The demon imposingly stated as he reached out for his shoulder, "Now, we expect an answer, unless that is you wish to face off against all of-"

What happened next was the work of an instant. Just as Lower Moon 2 was about to grab onto the stranger's shoulder, Rui saw the the man's hand grip his katana's scabbard, and use his thumb to push the blade just ever so slightly out of his scabbard. He never saw the man move an inch from where he sat. All he saw was Lower Moon Two's extended hand simply being separated from its wrist with no sign of a blade cutting it, and the next thing he knew, he felt intense pain. In less than a second, Rui and every single Lower Moon standing in the platform had been simultaneously decapitated with a slash to the neck not even a single one of them had seen it coming in the slightest, and yet every single one of them collapsed to the ground together, "Disgusting." The purple clad stranger declared as he rose, "You think yourselves so high and mighty...but in the end its all the same garbage."

The man stood then, his overwhelming presence made clear, and every single Lower Moon froze. Rui could tell by the fact that he still felt his body that this was not the cut of a Demon Slayer's blade, and yet neither him nor any of his fellow Moons dared to even try and reattach their own heads in fear of being cut down again, "You Lower Moon trash might enjoy flaunting your position over unranked demons, but at the very least you ought to have more respect for those above you." The man turned around then, and revealed that his features were mostly humanlike, with the exception of the flame-like markings stretching to his face from his neck and forehead, and more noteworthy than that, the three pairs of eyes in his face, all with the same red sclerae and yellow irises, with the exception of the middle two, which were inscribed with the symbols for Upper Moon One, "Do you not agree?"

Not a single one of the Lower Moons responded, none of them daring to move a muscle before the swordsman's terrifying presence. Rui himself was still in shock at realizing who exactly the stranger was, "_That…is Upper Moon One…the strongest demon below only Lord Muzan himself…_" He thought in shock, "_What…what is he doing here…?_"

Being a Lower Moon by itself made you highly respected among other demons and feared by most Demon Slayers. An unranked demon would never dare standing up to one of them. Yet the difference between an unranked demon and a Lower Moon was minimal compared to the difference between Lower Moons and Upper Moons. Upper Moons were literal living legends, rarely ever seen by anyone. All they knew were the rumors of the various monsters that composed the highest elite of demonkind. To Rui though, the most terrifying stories had always been the ones regarding a former Pillar that had given up his humanity and turned on the Demon Slayers centuries ago, and came to slaughter several other Pillars throughout the ages. Rui himself never truly believed it. The idea of a demonic Demon Slayer seemed well too farfetched for him...and yet there he stood, Upper Moon One, watching them all with his several eyes, katana sheathed to his waist.

"I shan't draw my blade again provided you remember your places. Now regenerate yourselves," Upper Moon One commanded them, "He will be arriving soon." Sure enough, the Lower Moons would all have their bodyless heads rise as to reattach themselves. Rui, though nervous himself in the situation, took the time to observe his fellow Lower Moons and their reactions to this now that the immediate threat seemed to have worn off. Lower Moon Two had stepped away from the Upper Moon upon regeneration, and was simply looking at the higher ranked demon with silent caution. Lower Moon Four seemed to be muttering to herself while staring nervously at the ground. Lower Moon One was, for whatever reason, smilling blissfully as she stared off into the empty space of the strange world they were in. Lower Moon Three however was once again the one to finally break the silence, "So...who is this 'he' you talked about? Did 'he' summons us?" The demon rather unwisely asked, all six of the Upper Moon's eyes fixing on him, "Can't you just go ahead and tell us why we're here for...?"

The swordsman demon narrowed his multiple eyes, "Careful with how you speak to me, boy..." He said threateningly, "I might not be able to cut you down with this blade of mine, but there are other ways of killing a demon other than a nichirin blade..."

Rui turned to see how Lower Moon Three would respond, the demon now looking more nervous, though not fully ready to back down. Before he could say something stupid again, this time to get him cut down more permanently, all of their attentions were caught by the unexpected sound of a child's laughter, "You're too hard on them Kokushibo..." A boy's voice said as the Upper Moon, apparently Kokushibo, stepped to the side, moving out of way from the infinite walkway behind him, revealing the child in question walking along it. He was a ten year old boy, with pale, white skin and black, silky smooth, neatly combed black hair. He wore a plain white button-up shirt and black cargo shorts with long tube socks and loafers. Most striking of all were his piercing plum red eyes however, which combined with the small smile on his face sparked something in Rui. "After all, these fools don't know their position. I suppose that's my fault, somewhat...but oh well..."

"_A kid...? Who is he?_" The Lower Moon wondered to himself, "_And...why does it feel like I recognize him..,?_" He turned to the other demons to see if he got something, but what he saw in them was a similar look of confusion to the one he probably had himself in that moment.

The young boy would step into the platform, and past Kokushibo, who much to the Lower Moon's surprises immediately dropped to one knee and looked down before the child. They didn't quite understand it for a moment, which was when he calmly turned his gaze back towards them, "Well?" The boy asked, "Will none of you bow...?" Before any one of them could even speak out against the boy's demand, he widened his eyes and let bathe the endless room around him with his killing intent for just a single solitary second. Frightening as Kokushibo's earlier show of presence might have been, this was in another dimension entirely. Standing before the boy, even for that one second, felt like standing by yourself at the edge of an infinitely black abyss, and knowing something was gazing up at you from its depths. None of the Lower Moons had to be asked a second time as they all immediately went down to their knees and completely prostrated themselves before their progenitor's unmistakable presence. "Ah...now that's more like it..."

"_It's Lord Muzan..._" Rui thought to himself, his head so low it nearly touched the ground while his body was still trembling after being exposed to the Demon Lord's immense show of murderous intent. "_He's in a different form, but that's definitively Lord Muzan...of course...so he's the one who called us all here...but...why...?_"

"Why, huh...?" Muzan's childlike form said in musing, addressing the elephant in the...whatever the hell this place was, "That is the thought crossing through all your heads. It's a fair question...after all I never had the necessity of calling upon the Lower Moons before, and even the Upper Moons have not had a reunion in over a century, so this must be quite the unfamiliar scenario for all of you. Well, let me explain. For starters, Lower Moon Six is dead. He was killed by a Demon Slayer, as it so happens. A particularly...troublesome Demon Slayer, but regardless, he was slain."

This provoked no major reactions from most of the Lower Moons, since one of them dying was not too unusual. But that was also no cause for reunion either. Two years ago, when a Lower Moon was killed, the only indication of such fact was the number on their eyes automatically changing as everyone was moved up a spot. "Of course, none of you are surprised about that, now are you?" Muzan asked, his red eyes narrowing, "You know why that is...?"

There was another moment of silence as no one responded, but the Demon Lord regardless continued, "Yes, Rokuro, that is correct." He said, causing Lower Moon Two to suddenly freeze up, "You Lower Moons are not as strong as the Upper Moons. You might rarely fall against an ordinary Demon Slayer, even if that was the late Lower Moon Six's case, yet you all seem to harbor the same fear for their so called 'Pillars..." Muzan noted, his previous calm smile disappearing as he spoke, giving in to a look of displeasure that had some of the Lower Moons to begin tensing up, "Now, it is expected of an unranked demon to fall to a Demon Slayer's blade, if nothing else they are a decent method of filtering out the failures early and allowing the strong to grow...but you are no unranked demons, now are you?" He asked, the disdain in his expression growing deeper, "You were handpicked to be among the strongest, given my own blood in order to assure your growth...and yet you keep on dying off, again and again, at the hands of simple humans. And if you can't even kill a few humans to the point of fearing them, then what is the point of keeping you around? Why should I not just slaughter you all right now and be done with it? Well?"

This time he awaited for a response, and yet the Lower Moons were all reluctant to give voice to their thought. It was clear that whichever of them chose to speak up would have in their hands the life of both themselves and their peers, and should their choice of words be a poor one...well, Muzan had made his intentions clear. Surprisingly however, it was Rui, sweating profusely and with his lips pursed as he faced the real possibility of his death, that decided for the first time since arriving to actually speak up, "Lord Muzan, I...am sorry." He apologized, staring down at the hardwood floor, "I have remained stagnant in my mountain for years now rather than hunting for humans in order to grow stronger...I was more concerned with my own objectives rather than with repaying you for the amazing gift you gave us all...but...if you give me a second chance, I will serve you with my undying loyalty. I'll devour as many humans and kill as many Demon Slayers as I need to repay for my folly..." He pleaded, and only once he was done and the pressure imposed on them by Muzan was gone did he glance up, and would see the Demon Lord looking at him. Though His scowl was gone, he was not smiling either, but at least seemed less displeased than before.

"I see," He said, looking over to the other Lower Moons, "and I trust that feeling is something shared by you all?"

"Y-yes...Lord Muzan." Lower Moon Four quietly stuttered, "I will do anything you ask of me..."

"Me too..." Lower Moon Three added, "It doesn't matter how many Pillars I have to face, I'll just get stronger and kill them all!"

"I...can only apologize for my own weakness." Lower Moon Two admitted, "I've grown arrogant in my position, but I was and still am your eternal servant, Lord Muzan."

"As am I." Lower Moon One said then, "Now and forever, we live and die for you and you alone."

Hearing the demon's pleading declarations managed to bring the small smile back to Muzan's face then, "As I thought. Fortunately for you all, I am nothing if not virtuous, and among those virtues I still have mercy left in me. After all, you are all children of my own blood, and exceptional specimen of your own rights. Every one of you were chosen to stand amongst the Demon Moons for a reason, and because of that, I still believe in you. However..." His expression growing dimmer then, he raised his right hand slowly, lowering his pinkie and ring fingers while touching his thumb and his index together. Rui would notice that, for a moment, he would turn his gaze towards Lower Moon One and meet the demon's eyes right before snapping his fingers and causing his head to suddenly explode in a violent spurt of blood that bathed the remaining Lower Moons, who once again were frozen in shock at the sudden display after thinking for a moment that none of them would be hurt. "...even the highest ranked among you is completely disposable." Muzan declared coldly, Lower Moon One's headless body falling flat on the ground with no signs of regenerating. "Never forget that."

Neither of the remaining four Lower Moons dared to move an inch, obviously none of them wanting to risk being the next example like Lower Moon One had. The point of their disposability had just been made very clear, after all, "I have ignored and tolerated your failures for far too long, but this will be your last chance. I expect each and every one of you to have taken a Pillar's life by a year's time. If not..." He narrowed his eyes, "don't be expected to be called back here. What I just did to Enmu there was to prove a point, but I could just as easily do so to any of you whenever I so wished...or even just have the curse activate on all of you and make it painful. Are we all clear?"

None of the Lower Moons rose to speak in fear, and the bystanding Kokushibo would narrow his eyes, having just been silently watching Muzan in silence since the Demon Lord arrived, but finally broke his long silence, "I believe they understand it, Lord Muzan."

Muzan nodded, "Good. In that case, let's move on." He said, reaching out to the cuff of his shirt to unbutton it, before stretching out his arm towards the Lower Moons, at which point four black tentacles would burst from inside the sleeve in the blink of an eye, each one sinking into a different Lower Moon's neck before any of them could react, causing them to gasp or groan in surprise. Rui himself grit his teeth when the tentacle pierced him, and would feel his body begin contorting as something was forcefully injected into him, leaving behind a mixture of bliss and raw pain, "I'll give each one of you a small taste of my blood. It will be a good first push in your quest for power, but from here on out you will have to seek out that strength yourselves." He declared as the tentacles let go of the demons and retracted themselves back inside Muzan's sleeve, leaving the previously bowing Lower Moons twitching on the floor. Rui for one would struggle to even rise to his knees as he felt his muscles trembling and his right eye burning in pain, the latter of which was not too unfamiliar an experience, "And of course, with Lower Moon One dead, you all should naturally be moving up a rank yourselves now. I expect all of you to make yourselves worthy of that honor."

Rui grunted, the vision on his right eye growing blurred for a moment before the pain finally faded and returned to normal. He turned to the side, still panting heavily from the stress of change in his body, but would nonetheless see that the symbol on their eyes had all morphed. The female Lower Moon Four was now Lower Moon Three, the scarred Lower Moon Three was now Lower Moon Two, and the tall Lower moon Two had become Lower Moon One. That, of course, meant that the symbol on his eye must have morphed too, bringing with it the Lower Moon Four position for Rui. Were he not too startled by the situation as a whole and pained while still adapting to the newly received blood, this might have even seemed like good news to him.

"Lord Muzan..." Kokushibo called out, and the Demon Lord turned to meet the Upper Moon's gaze. The two exchanged a look for a moment before Muzan briefly opened a smirk before he turned back to the Lower Moons.

"Well, our meeting today was...quite productive, if I do say so myself. Remember, the reason why I gave you this second chance is because I see potential in all of you...of course, in some more than others..." He told them, and for a moment Rui could've sworn the Demon Lord had glanced briefly at him as He said those words, "With that in mind, as a closing note, I would like to introduce you all to someone who I believe will be vital in bringing about this new standard for the Lower Moons...Kokushibo, if you will."

The Upper Moon demon suddenly turned all six of his eyes upwards, "You can show yourself now."

Rui would turn his gaze up following Kokushibo's, and see something falling from high above, but he would be unable to make out quite what it was until it landed directly amidst the Lower Moons. It was...a girl. She looked no older than fifteen, with pale skin and long, black hair, reaching just below her waist, turning an vermilion color as it passed her elbows. She wore a buttoned up white jacket-like shirt and matching hakama with red vein-like patterns stretching out from its sleeves throughout its entirety like a bloodstream, and over that a dark blue haori adorned throughout it with a geometric triangle patterns, but what shocked Rui the most was that, much like the Upper Moon Demon that had sliced them all down minutes ago, the girl also held sheathed in her waist a katana of her own. As she stood before them and opened her pale pink eyes, Rui would see the same kanji previously implanted on his left eye mirrored on her right, the newly christened Lower Moon Five.

The girl paid her fellow Lower Moons no heed however, turning around and immediately bowing before both Muzan and the bystanding Kokushibo, "Lord Muzan...Master...it is my honor to finally become part of the Demon Moons' ranks." She said in a soft but monotone voice.

Seeing the girl bowing before him, Muzan's smile would grow for a moment wider than Rui had ever seen in him before, but it faded quickly as he turned to the Lower Moons, "This is Chihime, and she will be joining your ranks as Lower Moon Five. Despite only being a demon for mere two years now, she's shown great growth and potential. I trust you will all be welcoming of her." He said, and as Rui watched the Demon Lord speak, he couldn't help but to be...unnerved. The way he smiled, it was almost as if Muzan was keeping a joke to himself. Was it about this new demon...? Either way, she was certainly an oddity. Not only did she have a katana sheathed at her side, but her clothes beneath the haori reminded him of a twisted version of the Demon Slayer uniform. The way she'd called Upper Moon One her master meant he'd probably taught her something in the way of the sword, but had she been a Demon Slayer herself before turning? "Rui." The Lower Moon was startled out of his line of thought as the Progenitor Demon called for him.

"...yes, Lord Muzan?" He inquired.

"Chihime has spent her short life as a demon thus far under Kokushibo's wing at my order, but I think it would be good for her to learn from one of her senior Lower Moons about life as a demon, and given that she is stepping into the very rank you held for so long, I would say it is only fitting for you to be that demon." He declared, with Rui turning his downed gaze up in sudden confusion, Chihime herself only glancing at him while the higher ranked Lower Moons all turned to look over at him as well.

"But...Lord Muzan, we're supposed to work by ourselves, are we not? Something like this is very out of norm for the Lower Moons..." He meekly tried contesting, to which Muzan's expression hardened.

"My word is the norm here. Are you saying you wish to go against it?" The Demon Lord asked, calmly, yet with undeniable danger in his voice.

"...no, of course not." Rui only muttered, quickly giving up on his pleading attempt.

"Good. You can take her in with the rest of your...'family' for time being. The rest of you will be left to your devices. I will try to find someone to take up the Lower Moon Six position in the meantime, and operations between the Lower Moons shall resume as normal...presuming, of course, you live up to the standards expected of you in the first place. I trust you all remember your promise, for I will make sure to keep you to it." Muzan told them warningly, before pausing for a moment, "Ah, and I almost forgot. Obviously any one of you who takes a Pillar's life shall be forgiven for their show of weakness, but there's another Demon Slayer out there, one who is weak now but might potentially become a big problem in the future. The swordsman in question is red of hair, and wears an unmistakable pair of hanafuda earrings. Should any of you bring me his head, not only will you be forgiven for your misdeeds, but you will also receive an ample share of my blood, and a guaranteed spot among my Upper Moons."

This, Rui noted, would immediately catch the attention of his fellow Lower Moons with the exception of Chihime, who all looked up curiously, eager for this new opportunity. After all, achieving forgiveness and gaining a free pass to the Upper Moons plus a great deal of power from their master's blood was by no means a bad opportunity. He himself wasn't pining it as much as the others due to still being too unsure as to what to think of the situation with the new Lower Moon Five. Why would Muzan want to push her into sticking with him out of any Lower Moon, and what exactly did he hope to achieve with this? Whatever it was, Rui couldn't help but to wonder if he was being used for purposes he himself didn't quite comprehend.

"In any case, I believe we're done here." Muzan said, "Nakime, you can bring them all back now."

The woman in the Biwa, apparently Nakime, only gave a groan of affirmation then before striking a chord in her Biwa, and causing space to switch as the new Lower Moon One disappeared. Another strum brought out Lower Moon Two, and a third one Lower Moon Three. Finally, only Rui and Chihime remained of the Lower Moons still present, at which point Muzan opened one last smirk smirk and narrowed his eyes before saying, "Do take good care of her now, Rui."

A final stroke of the Biwa ringed out, and spaced switched around Rui. Suddenly, he was back at Natagumo, standing atop the rooftop in his house. He was still sweating and panting from the experience of taking in his Master's blood, not having done so in many years then. Regardless, he turned to look beside him, and of course, the girl stood beside him, staring up at the sky without giving him the slightest heed.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, the Lower Moon would simply move. to the edge and leap off the rooftop he stood upon, deciding to take some time away from his own family to be by himself for a bit and reflect on all that had just happened. As he did so, he could almost feel Chihime's eyes switching down from the sky and landing at his back as he moved away.

* * *

Back in Kaigara, a demon currently lurked about its outskirts. A female demon with black short hair and a veiny visage with wild eyes and a particular mark in her face. A yellow mark resembling an anchor, that once had been the symbol of a wealthy clan, and until three days ago had been the repurposed symbol of a group of demons gathered under Lower Moon Six known as the Tetsuki Gang. The gang members however were now all dead and she, Nezumi, was the only remaining member.

Though she had been out in a hunt when it all happened, she'd come back into the town and disguised herself to blend in with the humans, thus overhearing the rough outline of all that had happened, people talking about monsters that attacked the town but were somehow killed by mysterious travelers. She didn't know how nor who, but they had all died at the hands of Demon Slayers, even the Boss.

Nezomi had decided to lurk about in the outskirts and hide in a cave during the day until she could make sure the Demon Slayers left Kaigara. After all, the seaside town with all its movements was still an amazing hunting place for a demon like her, but if she wished to keep it that way, she had to be careful for some time. Since she had been back, her hunts had mostly consisted of animals as to avoid bringing about the Demon Slayers' attention.

That, however, as it so happened, had gotten old quite quickly, and for the last two nights she'd had to hold herself back on going on a human hunting spree. But now, on the third night, an unique opportunity had suddenly presented itself to her, one far too tempting to ignore.

Though barely any travelers had appeared in the last two nights, probably due to the recent incident in a village, while lurking around one of the more obscure pathways that joined in with the main road leading to the town's entrance, she'd sight a single traveler walking by himself in the distant. She couldn't make out much of their features aside from the fact that the traveler was indeed human, and wearing a striped haori. They were however completely alone in an isolated road, and should something happen to them Nezumi knew no one would ever notice.

"_Finally...I've been waiting for a chance like this..._" The demon thought as she lurked about in the shadows of the trees, approaching the traveler in question, "_They'll never see it coming and no one's gonna miss them...its the perfect crime!_"

Finally approaching the unsuspecting human, she'd hid behind a bush and wait until they were passing by directly beside her before pouncing at her target. Nezumi rushed in at the traveler with an ear to ear grin, right away aiming for the neck. What she did not expect however was for the traveler to, without even looking at her direction, lazily swing his arm upwards, and with a blade she hadn't even noticed them draw, casually decapitated her with a single halfhearted swing.

As she collapsed in complete and utter shock, Nezumi would get a chance to look up at her target as a decapitated head just as they too turned to look down on her, and for the first time she would notice his features. The young man before her had neck length black hair and mismatched turquoise and yellow eyes, the lower half of his face covered in bandages. What really caught her off guard was that beneath the striped haori of his, the young man was wearing the Demon Slayer uniform, a katana with a distinct wavy blade, with a notable symbol near its guard that caught Nezumi's attention, "This place really has a demon problem after all...damn it, how did I managed to miss this in my patrols...?!" He muttered, more so to himself than at the demon, before "...I suppose I'll have to thank the Mizunoto who did my job for me...oh, well..."

The Demon Slayer continued walking off, leaving the disintegrating head paralyzed in shock. It was not even unlikely, it was near impossible. And yet, she'd seen the symbols imprinted in his blade. Just as the Boss had told them from the time he'd run into one of them himself, it had those same kanji engraved near its hilt, a constant reminder of their duty.

'Destroy all Evil Demons', it wrote.

"_Honestly..._" She thought, fading away as she watched the traveler walk off into the distance, "_Of all people to meet at a time like this...it just had to be a Pillar..._"

**A/N: Well, here it is, what you all waited so long for. After twelve chapters, Nezuko finally returns to the story! And as Lower Moon Five nonetheless! Okay, maybe some of you guessed that part, Cieszesi Niezmiernie guessed it almost to the T with one of her reviews. One thing I DO hope caught everyone on guard though was the way she was presented. And by that, I mean, with a katana. I can't claim full ownership to that idea unfortunately, and I'll get back to that a bit later, but how ironic is it that while both Kamado siblings spent their two years in the exact same way; training under one of the Tsugikuni twins? **

**Speaking of Nezuko, its time to fully address something I briefly mentioned when Kamanue was introduced, and that is the plan to redeem the Lower Moons. Lets be honest, in the actual story they are completely disrespected aside from Rui, and even Rui was jobbed by Giyu towards the end. With this story, I hope to give all of the neglected Lower Moons who were killed off the moment they were introduced a chance to show what they got rather than skipping straight to Upper Moons like the manga did. Honestly, though the canon equivalent of this chapter is the second best moment of the anime's first season, it still caused the series to go from a 300+ chapter ordeal to a 200 chapter one. IMO, I think that meant Gotouge didn't want to be stuck writing Demon Slayer every week for several more years, which is understandable given the strain of it.**

**Speaking of neglected Lower Moons, I think I should also explain my treatment of Enmu. Well, Enmu is probably my least favorite character in the series, followed closely by Kyogai. He has no backstory, his personality can be described entirely by the word 'sadistic', and his ability is incredibly specific and confusing. Plus while it is interesting to show people's dreams, there wouldn't really be much variation. Most of the Pillars' dreams would be them with their lost family. And while it would be sweet to see Himejima and his orphans reunited in dream or Sanemi visiting an older Genya and his family, its not worth all the trouble. And thus Enmu was used as an example, because I need some way to show how serious Muzan is about all this.**

**Speaking of Muzan, some of you might have noticed his presentation this chapter is quite different from whenever he meets his Moons in canon. Far calmer, far less prone to murdering everyone in the room. Well, to be fair, he is far less bothered by the loss of a Lower Moon here. For one, the Lower Moon dead was not Rui, but Kamanue. Its hinted at this chapter, but Rui is special among the remaining Lower Moons, and while Muzan doesn't REALLY care for him, he's still a step above the rest of the disposable pawns. That goes double, triple even, for Nezuko…or Chihime, I suppose. That all said, he was just in a better mood, a bit less prone to murdering everyone. Oh, also, regarding that name, Chihime is a very rough translation of 'blood princess' in Japanese, I'm sure you can all guess why.**

**Wow though, so much to say about the demon meeting that I barely touched on the other two scenes of this chapter. Well, lets see, the first one really doesn't leave THAT much to say, its just Tanjiro catching up with the aftermath of the previous chapters' fights and the boys discussing the whole Pillar thing. The other though, that shows a demon and a Pillar briefly. The demon in question is named Nezumi, which means 'mouse' in Japanese. Kind of a little pun since those are usually fed to snakes, and the one who killed her? Snake Pillar, Obanai Iguro, who we'll see meeting the crew next chapter.**

**So, returning to what I said earlier, Nezuko's apprenticeship was not my idea. Honestly, what she had been doing for these two years was something that didn't even cross my head until I realized how much of an oversight it is. All that said, I need to thank DownwardDive for this suggestion, made before I even started writing the first chapter, but that since came back and fit right into the story. Glad I didn't miss that. **

**Now, onto the reviews! **

Ztassassin555: I'm a fan of this outtake on the fiction and this was a great fight but;  
This tanjirou who struggled this much against ldm 6 is appearing weaker than canon tanjirou who at this point has no focus breathing training and not proficient in sun breath and still managed to cut rui red strings witch you said here they were able to cut black iron even i]if it was weaker then so was rui at that time, and canon tanjirou after focus breathing training managed to cut ldm 1 neck who at the time was being boosted by muzan blood and fused to a train with one sun breath move , and this struggled so much with ldm 6 not just his defence but also his speed and strengtha although he's way more experienced with the sun breath and has mastered focus breathing fulltime , see where I'm going with this . If he struggles this much against ldm 6 then how he is gonna fight stronger demons and unlike canon he can't train full focus breathing to get stronger because he already mastered it .  
I think you should've gone with ldm 2 insted of 6 to ahow his strength or say he has yet to master full focus breathing .  
Also your fighting style is great but very long and that can be boring sometimes , I think if tanjirou finshed this fight in 2 or three moves it will be very impactful (look at giyuu vs rui for example ) a fight need not be long fot it to be impactful.  
Sorry for rambling but thus fic has a great potential and thank you.

**I normally don't reply to reviews via PM, since I do it every chapter at this end, but this one was actually a valid complaint, not that I don't have reasons behind its workings. That said, I'll mostly copy the PM I already sent you here.**

**Lower Moon Six was not a hard opponent to Tanjiro because he WAS Lower Moon Six, it was because his ability made it hard for a Demon Slayer to fight him. Which is the same reason of why he boasts so many kills under his belt despite being the lowest of the lower moons. A being that can only killed by having their neck cut, but with a neck too hard to cut, and even if he was cut, it was never all the way, not even when a previous Pillar tried it. Therefore, not being able to cut him down, Tanjiro just kept fighting until he was tired out. The reason why I used two chapters focused solely on a single fight was because that fight was meant too be long and tiring. Its a war of attrition.**

**However, Tanjiro's katana and Rui's string are two very different things. Tanjiro only strikes when he has the chance, and he is able to cut into Kamanue when he does. Rui has an ability that can specifically to bind an opponent like he did with Nezuko, making looking for a chance to strike a non-necessity. His strings only managed to cut him like they did because he had plenty of time to do so. See, its not just about who is stronger or weaker, but also how their abilities work in a fight. Kamanue is weaker than Rui, but Tanjiro would have a far easier time having to face off against Rui than he would with Kamanue. **

**A better example for that is actually something that I already did in this story. Tanjiro, for as strong as he is, was having trouble with Susamaru and Yahaba, two demons far below the Lower Moon standard. Yet, he was nearly killed, because Yahaba's ability was undetectable by him and left him in a disadvantage. Kanao is not in any way stronger than him, but due to her own abilities she was able to fight off the same ability far better since she could see those arrows. See what I'm trying to say here?**

**Oh, also, something I did NOT mention in the PM because it is relevant to this chapter, but Kamanue was given such an OP ability against most Demon Slayers is not only because he had to make a good first impression on the Lower Moons, but because unlike the rest, he wasn't gonna receive a boost by Muzan's blood to push him to the same level as others, so in order to compare to them and still be a threat, he kinda needed that. **

_DriftingPhoenix:Since Tanjiro stayed lower moon 6, will that make Muzan even madder? Like even more mad than when lower moon 5 was killed? Also, I wonder how Kagaya and the other pillars will react to Tanjiro slaying a demon moon._

_Nice backstory for lower moon 6, did you think of it all by yourself or did you also take something from somewhere else that inspired this?_

_Also, does Tanjiro disrespect the hashiras or something, because I sense some very strong emotions with him about the demon slayer corps._

**It annoyed him, no doubt about it, look no further than his offer for the Lower Moons at the end of this chapter, but that annoyance was overshadowed by the new asset he is putting into play through Nezuko/Chihime. As for what the other side thinks about Lower Moon Six's slaying...well, we'll get to that. **

**I believe so. Maybe I took something from somewhere ****subconsciously, but the main idea behind his family was mostly taken from an old RP character for now, and the rest were chance encounters that served to mold his own life phylosophy properly. **

**Well, maybe not the Pillars in specific, when it comes to the Demon Slayer Corps itself, he's not the number one fan. Given his first impression of them was the killing of his sister, it is not very hard to imagine why.**

_Echonic: And it seems the fight has reached it's conclusion. While It didn't have the sheer coolness as of Genya's fight or the excitingness of Zenitsu's you used the environment to it's fullest potential and fighting at the beach in the water is awesome. And no shit because lower moons are hard as shit to beat, I wonder how Tanjiro will even beat a Higher moon, or kill all the other lower moons.. nah thats suicide. Anyway this was amazing definitely the best demon slayer fic so far, probably because all the other ones are yaoi or in another language_

**Well, to be fair, its hard to make a long winded fight cool all the way through, and it had to be long winded. I tried to go for a bombastic finale for it though, which I think worked well for what it is. And yeah, if you aren't a Pillar, fighting a Lower Moon won't be a cakewalk. Kamanue in specific was troubling for his own reasons, but that idea still stands. ****Lastly, I can comprehend the struggle of a good fic that throws Yaoi at you out of nowhere. Not that I have anything against it, but I really don't have anything for it either, being a straight male who can't see the appeal of it and whatnot. **

_Neema Amiry: Lovely fight_

**Cheers. **

_Mukuro1796: Good chapter, always is interesting to know the background of the characters to see how they become the way they are, of course that doesn't excuse the demons to take the lifes of inocent people, in the next we'll see the aftermath of the battle, and one or two pillars at least? I hope so, read you in the next._

**Well, there was a bit of the aftermath, plus one pillar showing up near the end, but I hope the whole middle portion with the demons satisfied your expectations**

_Arkham Knight: So Tanjiro wins. For a moment I was sure a pillar or another would come to help. A good conclusion to the fight. But I don't think Tanjiro would be interest in being a pillar seeing as how much tension there would be with Giyu. Yeah just was 191 and it's getting more intense than I thought can't even tell how it's going to end. Great chapter. Good work._

**I'm glad you thought a Pillar would appear to save him. It means I made a good job in making someone think he'd lose, but managed a convincing comeback still. As for Tanjiro and becoming a Pillar...well, I did touch upon that this chapter, but it'll be getting its proper focus in the coming ones as you will see. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to your next review.**

**With that, we're done with reviews for today. As a closing note, with this chapter I will have reached 100k words, and despite not even being done with Act 1 of the story yet, this is already close to being one of the longest Kimetsu no Yaiba fics on the site, which really surprises me since its only two months since I began ****writing this. Regardless, next chapter we'll almost certainly be reaching 100 reviews as well, so I hope you guys all contribute to that and tell me your thoughts on this chapter. I'll actually be disappointed if this chapter doesn't get its share of reviews since the number one question I've had asked since Chapter 1 is "when will Nezuko show up?" And now...yeah.**

**So, do leave a review, its highly appreciated. Favorite and Follow also by the way, if you haven't, and I'll be seeing you all soon enough. Sky signing out.**


	13. New and Old Faces

It had been three days since facing off with the gang of demons that had been taking residence in the town of Kaigara, and the three boys that had injured themselves in their respective battles were deemed well enough to be let off the infirmary, especially considering there were more people wounded by the incident that required the treatment.

That said, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and the third Demon Slayer that, try as the other two might, still refused to give them his name, found themselves out in the streets with the sun just having risen. The first of the three was back to wearing his kimono and his patched-up haori, though he wore it normally only on one side, the other one left draped over his shoulder with a sleeve hanging off to the side while his arm remained in its cast stuck in the same position until it eventually healed. The wound on his chin was still covered by a square patch of cotton as to not leave exposed his stitched-up cut. The two others were in a bit less of a terrible state, with Zenitsu's chest bandaged underneath his Demon Slayer uniform from his broken ribs and the one with the scars still had a great deal of his body bandaged from the burns he'd received.

"So…what now?" Zenitsu asked the other two as they stood out in the road, "I don't think we can go back to demon-slaying right away with these injuries, after all…"

"Says you." The scarred boy grunted out, already starting to walk off, "I'm just glad I can finally get away from you two morons and be off by myself."

Zenitsu only huffed, glaring at the boy's direction, "Okay then, just walk away for all I care! We're not the ones who are gonna end up dying trying to fight demons while we're=" He was cut short by a hand gently being placed in his shoulder, and he turned to see the owner of said hand, Tanjiro, as he stared off at the boy's back.

"Don't worry about it, Zenitsu." He told the blond-haired boy, "He's not like us. One handful of demon flesh should be more than enough to get him back in shape."

This had Zenitsu staring at him in slight confusion. The boy though, he suddenly froze where he stood, slowly glancing behind him over his shoulder, "…what did you just say?"

"You heard me." Tanjiro said calmly, "You eat demons, don't you? That's how you fight back against them, isn't it? And don't even bother denying it," He slightly tapped his own nose, "I can smell it in your breath."

"…and so what?!" The scarred boy grunted out, turning around and getting up close on the red-haired boy's face, "Not everyone has the privilege of being able to use breaths…some of us have to go the extra mile if we want to fight back, even if I lose some of my humanity in the way!"

Despite him seeming fully ready to throw down with his fellow Demon Slayer, all that anger and bravado was dispersed by Tanjiro's answer, "I know. And I respect you for it." He admitted honestly, catching the boy off guard, "It doesn't fully excuse your attitude, but…it must've been really tough, forcing yourself to fall to that point while everyone around you become stronger and stronger on their own…I'm sorry for breaking your nose back then, that was uncalled for."

The scarred Demon Slayer didn't quite know how to react to Tanjiro's apology, but after a few awkward moments of silence, he managed to let out a, "…well, good. At least you know you were wrong." He muttered, looking away in an attempt to hide his sheepishness.

"…wait, so he eats demons?!" Zenitsu asked, way behind on the conversation, causing both boys to turn and look at him with matching deadpan stares, "Stop looking at me like that!"

"Ah, so there you are." A fourth voice suddenly interjected their conversation, and the three boys looked up to see a young man standing above them at the edge of a low roof, staring them down with mismatched eyes. The young man had fairly long black hair, with the lower half of his face covered by bandages. He wore a striped black and white haori over the traditional Demon Slayer garbs, "The three intrepid Mizunoto who took down a Lower Moon and all his cronies." He said, jumping down the roof to stand alongside the three of them.

Before any of them could even ask anything, the newcomer quickly began to avail them one by one, starting by Zenitsu, "So…you must be the former Thunder Pillar's disciple, Zenitsu Agatsuma…" He then turned to the scarred boy, "Now, you are definitely Sanemi's brother, Genya Shinazugawa…" He finally revealed the scarred boy's name, but before Tanjiro could even comment on that, the Demon Slayer would turn his attention to him, "And of course…the upstart who defeated Lower Moon Six, Tanjiro Kamado. I've been looking for you boys."

"And…who are you exactly?" A scowling Genya was the one to ask.

The Demon Slayer narrowed his eyes, "Ah, right…my name is Obanai Iguro, I am the Snake Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps."

"…wait, you're a pillar?" Zenitsu inquired abrasively, "Where the hell were you when we were busting your ass off fighting those demons?!"

Obanai turned to glare at the blond boy with sudden intensity, "We Pillars can't be everywhere at once. Though I admit it was sloppy of me to miss a Lower Moon lurking about in my own territory, that still doesn't mean you can disrespect me, brat."

"…alrighty then." Zenitsu murmured as he found himself hiding cowering from the angry snake man behind Tanjiro, who in turn could only sweatdrop at the blond's antics.

"So, what does a Pillar want with us anyway?" The red-clad boy then asked, feigning ignorance to the matter despite having somewhat of an idea of what this might be about.

"You have been summoned by the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki." Obanai announced, "And by you, I refer primarily to Tanjiro Kamado, though I was ordered to bring in the two of you as well."

"NO WAY!" Both Zenitsu and Genya exclaimed simultaneously, though while one said it in honest excitement, the other did in revolted disbelief.

"I told you they were gonna make you a Pillar, Tanjiro!" Zenitsu told his friend elatedly, even though Tanjiro himself only silently narrowed his eyes somewhat at the news, "I told you, that's what happens when a Demon Slayer takes out a Demon Moon!"

"You can't be serious, no one makes it to the Pillars so quickly…not even…" Genya drifted off before finishing that sentence but seemed annoyed regardless.

Hearing that however, Obanai narrowed his eyes, turning to Tanjiro and taking a step towards him, "…don't get too excited, one look at you and I can see you're no Pillar material." He said harshly, managing to be quite intimidating despite being a good inch or two short on the boy, "Any of us would be able to slay that Lower Moon Six of yours without even breaking a sweat, so given how beaten up you are, you still have a long way to go."

"_…'too excited'? I didn't even say anything…_" Tanjiro thought to himself, leaning away from the way-too-close Snake Pillar staring him down. Finally, the older Demon Slayer just turned around and started to hurriedly walk off again.

"C'mon, let's get going, it's a long way back to the Demon Slayer Headquarters," Obanai said, already opening distance from the three boys, who were all still standing there.

"…you mean now?" Zenitsu asked somewhat meekly, only for the Pillar to suddenly stop and look over his shoulder, staring right at the blond boy with a murderous glare.

"Did I stutter…?!" Obanai asked, staring down Zenitsu intently for a moment before just turning around and continuing walking even faster, obviously not really bothering to wait around for the three injured boys.

"…I don't like that guy." Zenitsu admitted quietly.

"…yeah, I can see why." Tanjiro sighed, before starting to walk himself, following the Pillar, "C'mon, let's go before we lose sight of him."

Zenitsu let out a tired sigh while Genya grunted annoyedly, but regardless both of them walked after Tanjiro and after the Pillar. Soon enough, they left the town, with Kaigara admittedly a better place than it was when they first arrived.

* * *

Several days would pass as the four Demon Slayers traveled north towards the Demon Slayer Headquarters. It took rather long too, seeing as three-fourths of the group were injured from their latest fights, and even though Obanai insisted they walk quicker almost every ten minutes throughout the entire journey, the pace was still quite slow. Regardless, after a whole lot of walking, it came the day when they began approaching their destination, and as they walked along a narrow road hidden amidst forestation, Tanjiro paused when he felt a smell he recognized, of someone he recognized, as well as a similar smell of someone he didn't alongside it.

"_The smell of flowers….can it really be…?_" He wondered, and his suspicions were confirmed when Zenitsu beside him also perked up, seeming to notice something.

"I…think there's someone up ahead." He said, and sure enough, two figures soon came into view in the distance, standing by a fork in the road. As they approached the figures in question, it became clear that the two were young women, both wearing Demon Slayer garbs over white cloaks, and Tanjiro opened a small smile as he indeed recognized one of the two. After all, she'd saved his life a while back. Still donning the same butterfly ornament in her hair and indifferent look in her face, Kanao Tsuyuri really hadn't changed since the last time he'd seen her.

Soon enough, they'd approached the two, and the leading Obanai suddenly came to stop. "Shinobu, I am back with the Mizunoto." The Snake Pillar said, addressing the shorter girl Tanjiro didn't recognize, with dark hair and a butterfly ornament similar to Kanao's, only her's was white and purple. She wore a haori with a curious pattern that reminded him of a butterfly's wings, and a had placid smile plastered on her lips.

"That I can see, Obanai." The petite girl, Shinobu, said with just a drop of irony, "You did take your sweet time there though…Lord Ubuyashiki has been expecting your return for a few days now."

Obanai narrowed his eyes, his annoyance shining through his eyes despite half his face being hidden, "It's not my fault these guys are so green most of them can't even beat an unranked demon without breaking a few bones."

Tanjiro meanwhile ignored Obanai and Shinobu's talking, as well as Zenitsu who seemed stuck in a daze, blushing and drolling slightly while staring at the girls, or Genya, who was fussing over being insulted by the Pillar and not being able to do much. Instead, he focused on addressing Kanao, "Hey, Kanao…it's been a while." He said to the girl, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yes," She said in affirmation, "it is good to see you alive, Tanjiro Kamado, even with a few bones broken."

"_…blunt as always, of course._" Tanjiro noted to himself, "Yeah…just Tanjiro will do, really."

"Of course, Tanjiro." Kanao nodded as she corrected herself.

Before Tanjiro could say anything else he was suddenly be pulled aside by Zenitsu grabbing onto his shoulder and dragging him some distance from Kanao. "Hey, hey, hey, Tanjiro! How come you didn't tell me you knew such cute Demon Slayer girls?" He frantically muttered out just loud enough for him to hear, not even giving him any time to respond, "I mean, I remember the one with the fringe was in the Final Selection, but I thought a girl that pretty might be well out of my league! But I never would've thought you had so much game in you, man! Maybe you can ask her to introduce me to one of her friends! How about it, Tanjiro? C'mon, please!"

Finally being given a chance to talk himself, all Tanjiro could say was, "Uh…I think you're really misunderstanding the situation here, Zenitsu…"

The blond boy paused for a moment, "So…you mean she's available?"

Tanjiro only stared at him blankly for a moment before sighing, "Sure," He said, "give it your best shot."

Zenitsu seemed to tremble in excitement then, "Right! Wish me luck!"

As the blond boy moved over to Kanao to try and lay his moves on the girl in an attempt already doomed to failure, Tanjiro instead chose to focus back on Obanai and Shinobu, the latter of the two noticing him approaching and smiling, "So, you must be Tanjiro Kamado...I have to admit, I was quite curious to meet you."

"Yeah," He muttered, still unsure of what to think of this whole situation even after days of nothing but thinking about it, "and you're...Shinobu, right?"

"Right...I haven't introduced myself yet. Apologies for that," Shinobu said then, "I am Shinobu Kocho, Insect Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps." She looked over at Kanao, who stood off to the side with the same indifferent smile as Zenitsu frantically tried impressing her by flexing his muscles, only to keel over in pain from his broken ribs, "I believe you already met my sister, Kanao."

"...oh. She did mention she had a sister who was also a Demon Slayer," He recalled, "But...I didn't think you'd be an actual Pillar."

"Well, I might not exactly look as tough as my peers, but I guarantee you I didn't make it this far based on my charming personality," Shinobu assured him, her wide, close-lipped smile undisturbed.

"_...that's not at all what I meant._" Tanjiro thought, but before he could even try to correct himself, the Insect Pillar had already moved on.

"Now, I'd say we should get moving. Lord Ubuyashiki has waited long enough, so I think the small talk can wait." Shinobu declared before turning over to her sister, "Kanao, why don't you take these boys back to the Butterfly Mansion to check up on them while I and Obanai accompany Tanjiro here to the headquarters."

"Of course, master." Kanao affirmed before turning over to the two boys in questions, "You two, come along." She said, walking off to one of the forking paths in the road, followed closely by a pining Zenitsu and an awkwardly fumbling Genya.

Shinobu and Obanai though took the other path in the road, the latter turning briefly to glare at Tanjiro, "C'mon now, hurry up. You heard Shinobu, your injured ass wasted us enough time already."

"Alright, alright..." Tanjiro muttered out annoyedly as he followed the two Pillars, "I'm going."

The following hours would be spent walking by the three Demon Slayers, with the two Pillars taking the lead and Tanjiro keeping up closely behind. They eventually reached a large open gate surrounded by two tall walls. Crossing it, they thus arrived at an expansive courtyard with a massive mansion located at its middle, "Here we are," Shinobu declared as they reached their destination, "The Ubuyashiki Mansion, also known as the Demon Slayer Headquarters."

"Oh, wow...!" Tanjiro couldn't help but exclaim, surprised at the sheer size of the house in question, especially seeing as most of his life had been spent in sharing a modest shack in the woods with his sizeable family. He supposed it was only expected of the Demon Slayer leader's house though...

"Obanai, why don't you go ahead and report to Lord Ubuyashiki our arrival." Shinobu suggested, "Meanwhile, I'll take Tanjiro to the medical bay and give him a brief check-up. Please tell him we'll be there shortly."

Obanai looked as if he was going to protest for a moment, but just sighed and nodded, "Fine...just be quick about it." He said gruffily, before walking off in a different direction while Tanjiro himself continued following Shinobu.

They entered the mansion, and after walking through several empty rooms and corridors that left the boy rather disoriented, they eventually reached the medical bay, and Tanjiro found himself sitting atop an exam table without his haori while Shinobu began examining the stitched-up cut on his face, "Hm...that seem just about healed. We should go ahead and remove the stitches." She stated and grabbed a pair of tweezers from a nearby surgical table to begin doing so. "So...you seem to have left somewhat of an impression on my sister, didn't you Tanjiro?" She asked in the tone of small talk.

"...did I?" He inquired.

"Don't talk now, keep your head still." She said to him in a slight scolding, contradictory to her asking a question too, but Tanjiro stayed quiet regardless, "But...yes. When I told her you would be coming this way, she said that was 'good to hear'..." The pillar said, snickering briefly as she reached for a small pair of scissors in the tray in order to snap and remove one of the stitches, "Now, that might not sound like much, but having met her, you know she can be quite..."

"Indifferent?" Tanjiro suggested, taking the brief reprieve in between stitches to speak.

"Yes...indifferent." Shinobu agreed as she moved on to the next stitch. "She went through a lot in life before me and my late sister took her in, and that left her mostly unable to connect to anyone...so I'm glad to see her finally starting to make some friends. It'd be good for her." She glanced up briefly at him to lock eyes with the boy for a moment, "I think it might be good for you too."

The rest of the time they spent removing the stitches was silent, with Tanjiro mostly wondering what she meant by that one last statement. It might have seemed presumptuous since this woman barely knew him, but something told him her's wasn't as empty a guess as it might've seemed in the surface. "Well, we're done with your stitches." She said after a while, putting down the tweezers and scissors to grab a small mirror, "The wound itself is just about healed, but it'll leave a scar regardless."

Tanjiro took the mirror and stared at his reflection, raising his head to take a closer look at the thin white line stretching from his chin to the bottom of his lower lips,

"Huh...guess it's another one to the collection." He remarked dryly.

"Personally, I think it makes you look handsome," Shinobu told him and snickered when Tanjiro blushed in response, as he was not very used on being complimented like that, especially by a girl.

"Uh...thanks." The boy awkwardly muttered in response, looking away.

She nodded, before glancing over at his cast, "Now, let's take a look at that arm of yours," Shinobu said, reaching for a scalpel, "Take off your kimono top."

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow, but did as requested, "Uh…okay." He then raised his cast enclosed arm to her, "But are you sure you can cut through that with-" Before he could even finish that sentence, Shinobu twirled the scalpel on her fingers before, with one single straight cut, slicing all the way through the cast with a literal surgeon's precision, "...nevermind."

Taking his arm out of the opened cast, she'd hold onto his forearm and avail it closely and cautiously, "...huh. That's quite remarkable." Shinobu noted, closely observing the result of Tanjiro's own precautions in healing his arm. While it was inside the cast, he made it an exercise of sorts to move his muscles in such a way that kept the broken bone in place even inside the cast. That along with keeping Full Focus Breathing active constantly had benefited him greatly in the healing of the wound, "That degree of manipulating your own body with your breathing is certainly something far beyond what's expected of a Mizunoto...I'm not even sure Kanao could pull something like this so effectively..."

Shinobu then suddenly spun around in her chair and kneeled down to dig something out of the bottom drawer of a nearby cabinet, "Hm...now where is it...oh, here!" She suddenly pulled something out of the drawer and spun around to show it to Tanjiro. It was an armband of sorts, big enough to cover the entire length of his forearm, "This is something of my own design, an improvised substitute for an arm cast made so a Demon Slayer can be sent out in missions while still recovering. You should still rest for a while until it heals fully, but at least you'll be able to keep up with some light training in the meantime."

Tanjiro took the armband, and slowly slid it down, staring at his left hand as he opened and closed it testingly. "...this will be a great help to me." He admitted, turning to the Pillar, "Thank you, Shinobu. It's kind of you to do all this even though you barely know me."

"Oh, relax. It's not like I wouldn't do the same to any member of the Corps." She said, waving her hand dismissively, "Besides, if even Kanao took a liking to you, you can't be that bad. That all said, we should get moving now. Lord Ubuyashiki is waiting for you."

He nodded, and got off the table, redressing both his kimono and the haori before following Shinobu out of the room. This time though, as they roamed the corridors, they came across two figures roaming down the hall, both donning the same black uniform and headpiece that concealed their appearance other than their eyes. As they walked by, the two of them would bow before the Insect Pillar briefly before moving on.

"Uh…who are those?" Tanjiro inquired as the two figures disappeared down the hallways.

"Oh, those are the Kakushi." Shinobu explained, "Demon Slayers who got too injured to return to active duty or those who fail the Final Selection sometimes might wish to still work to support the Corps' cause. They do all the work needed for the effective functioning of the Corps while the other members are too busy with the demon-slaying. They also tend to Lord Ubuyashiki and his family, as well as taking care of the mansion itself. "

"Huh…you'd think a place this big would have more of them walking around then," Tanjiro noted.

"Indeed, but Lord Ubuyashiki insists their presence is better utilized elsewhere and keeps the staff tending the house down to a minimum." She told him.

"Ah…I see…" He muttered, wondering just what kind of person the Demon Slayer leader really was. Both Pillars he'd met seemed to have a great deal of respect for him, and everything he'd seen so far seemed to be telling him that, one way or the other, the man in question was an extraordinary one.

Eventually, they turned a corner and see an annoyed-looking Obanai leaning beside a fusuma leading to what he could only guess to be a garden by the light leaking through it. The moment they did so, however, the Snake Pillar switched turn his irritated gaze towards Tanjiro, and despite the bandages covering the lower half of his face, he didn't need to show his mouth for them to know he was scowling.

"Obanai, why are you not in there with Lord Ubuyashiki?" Shinobu inquired

"He has asked to talk to the kid without our interruption, so we have to stand guard outside until he calls us in." Obanai responded, before his angered gaze at Tanjiro intensified, "But that doesn't mean we can't hear what's going inside there, gotcha? You better show the proper respect in there, else I make sure you can't hold a sword right ever again, are we clear?"

"…crystal." The younger Demon Slayer affirmed somewhat uncomfortably. Still, the sheer reverence the Snake Pillar had for this man only served to feed his growing curiosity. He could understand Shinobu, but someone as confrontative and blunt as Obanai wouldn't just bow to anyone, especially since he had more than enough power to back his bravado. This Ubuyashiki could only be someone extremely powerful if he could keep each and every Pillar in check like this.

Obanai looked at him hard for another moment as if trying to find whatever slight excuse would allow him to kick his ass, but he seemed to be unsuccessful as he just groaned and pulled the sliding door open, motioning for Tanjiro to go in. The boy glanced over briefly at Shinobu, who gave him a smile and an encouraging nod. He breathed in deeply, and without another moment's wait, walked in.

He stepped into a large empty room leading to a large courtyard inside the house with a beautiful garden. A black-haired man in white robes with a pink and purple mist like pattern starting around the lower back sat at the edge of the room, looking out into the garden with his back turned to Tanjiro. As the door behind him closed, the boy narrowed his eyes and slowly began to slowly approach the man. About halfway there though, his nose caught a good whiff of the man's smell, and recognition caused him to freeze in surprise, the wood beneath his feet creaking as he did and causing the sitting man to glance at the side briefly, "So...you must be Tanjiro Kamado, I've heard much about you." He said, "It's nice to finally meet you."

Tanjiro was stuck in place, not sure what to make of the smell he'd just felt emanating from this man or what it meant, "Are...are you the Demon Slayers' leader...?" He inquired.

"Oh, apologies. I'm not used to meeting many new people, so the habit of introducing myself tends to escape me." He said as he turned around to face Tanjiro, and the boy's eyes widened as his suspicions were confirmed. Facing him, he could now make out the man's features, that while the lower half of his face was perfectly normal, everything above the bridge of his nose was covered in rot, leaving only greying skin and white milky eyes that couldn't see a thing. His nose had once again been correct as it caught the smell of disease before there was ever any visible sign of it in the man. And yet, despite all that, the smile on his face was one completely at peace. Such a smile in the face of deadly disease immediately brought back to Tanjiro memories of his late father in his last days, even if this man was in a worse condition than he'd ever been in, "My name is Kagaya Ubuyashiki, and yes, I am the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps."

Shaken out of his shocked surprise, Tanjiro blinked before falling down to one knee before Kagaya, head kept down. "I'm sorry," He apologized awkwardly, "I didn't know..."

"Don't worry. Nearly all of my Pillars had a reaction similar to yours upon our first meeting." He reassured the boy, "I'm sure most people imagine the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps as an unbeatable swordsman capable of cutting down any demon, but I'm afraid that is far from the case. My own family has presided over the Corps since its founding and every single Ubuyashiki leader before me died an early death from this same inescapable disease. It is our cross to bear for as long as this world is tainted by demonkind."

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused, "...I don't get it. What does this disease have to do with killing demons?"

"You see, this disease is no normal sickness that can be fixed by normal medicine. No, even after hundreds of years researching it, the best it can do is lengthen our lifespan somewhat. For generations, however, we've been taught that this is actually a curse placed upon our family by the gods themselves." Kagaya explained, much to the boy's increasing confusion, "The reason behind this curse was one of our family's members, who long ago sought to attain immortality through unknown methods, and in the process ended up sacrificing his humanity in order to become something else...that man is the one you currently know as Muzan Kibutsuji."

Hearing that, Tanjiro widened his eyes. That revelation did explain why Kagaya of all people was leading the Demon Slayer Corps, there was a degree of responsibility and atonement behind his family's actions. Still, that did leave him with one big question, "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Kagaya then narrowed his blank eyes, his peaceful smile growing slightly wider, "The reason, Tanjiro, of why I am telling you that, is because gods can very well curse us and toy with our lives...however, that isn't always the case. Sometimes, they can bless us with truly splendid people. Just as they made those of my blood weak and frail, they could just as easily make someone with great strength and natural talent." He told the Demon Slayer, "In fact, it has happened before. In the early days of the Demon Slayer Corps, there was a man, said to have been born with special eyes and a mark of greatness. He was the one who first figured the secret behind Breathing Techniques, and through them achieved levels any Pillar since could barely measure up to. He was said to have faced off Muzan himself in single combat, and very nearly brought about his defeat. Not much information about the man himself have survived to this day...but two notable details that the few surviving documents in the Ubuyashiki Mansion's secular library mentions are the mark on his forehead and the hanafuda-like earrings he wore."

Tanjiro looked off to the side for a moment as a thought crossed his mind upon hearing that, the 'special mark' in the forehead in special striking a note with him, but he quickly shook it off and decided to focus on the matter at hand right now, "... are you trying to say I'm the same as that guy? Because of some earrings and a scar" He shook his head, "I'm sorry to disappoint, but the earrings are a family inheritance, and the mark on my forehead is just a scar. No one chose me, nor marked me as special. I'm just another orphan who learned to swing a sword and chose his fight."

"Well, maybe you are correct about the mark, or even the earrings, but there is still one more crucial thing," Kagaya told him, calmly but convincedly, "Like I said, this blessed Demon Slayer was the one to discover the secret of Breathing Techniques, and he would go on to teach it to the various Demon Slayers that joined the cause. Though no one could replicate the specifics of his personal breathing style, through his insane talent he would create variations of that initial breath customized to his allies, and those would come to become the Five Main Breath Styles of which all others are derived from. Thunder, Earth, Wind, Water and Flames, all of them powerful styles in their own right, and yet not one of those could compare to the original breath of which they were all derived from...the Breath of the Sun."

"...I can't say I've heard of that before." Tanjiro admitted then, knowing that one criteria, in particular, would be hard to deny.

"Well, it is not widespread information. Since the breath was supposedly impossible to pass down, it died with its user over four hundred years ago. Very few documents of that time remain, and though I imagine most of the Pillars might've heard about it, it is still considered a legend. Understandably so, since no one has actually shown wielding that style in centuries..." Kagaya then chuckled, and despite his white blinded eyes, he seemed to be staring straight through Tanjiro, "...that is, until you appeared."

Tanjiro stared down silently, a bead of sweat falling down the side of his face. He was put in a position he didn't want to be, but one that he saw coming in the last few days. He knew the question that would be asked next after all, and it wasn't one he could answer honestly. He'd made a promise, the only condition for his two years of intensive training, something that had he gone without, he would've ended up long dead. But then again, he had seen this coming, and while he was a terrible liar, that didn't mean there weren't other ways around it...

"Well then, Tanjiro..." Kagara said, before asking the awaited question, "Where was it that you learned such a thing?"

"...I come from a long lineage of coal burners. We had this tradition that the patriarch of the family would dance from dusk to dawn every new year so to ward off diseases and bring prosperity. I was taught this dance by my father and given these earrings alongside it so that, when he died, I'd be the one to do the Dance of the Fire God every year. My father passed away from disease eventually, but I never got the chance to do the ceremony since my family was killed by a demon." He explained, before pausing for a moment and steeling himself for the lying part, "...I managed to use this dance and the breathing techniques taught by it to create my own breathing style after receiving basic training from a retired Demon Slayer. The name was something I came up with myself afterward based on the naming scheme for the Breath Styles, and since Breath of Fire was pretty much already covered, I decided to use the thing demons fear most as a basis for its name. However, I never knew there was an actual Breath of the Sun before the one I use."

With his head lowered, Tanjiro silently waited for his lie to be blatantly pointed out by the Demon Slayer leader before him, but instead of that, Kagaya simply replied normally after a small pause, "...I see. I am honestly sorry for your family." He said in condolence, "Still, you are a very talented Demon Slayer nonetheless. Your feats are well above the rank of Mizunoto."

"You give me too much credit." Tanjiro told him, "I'm just a Demon Slayer like any other."

"Why now that isn't really true, is it?" Kagaya inquired, "I've been keeping a close eye on you, Tanjiro. This last Final Selection had more people succeeding in passing the trials than in quite a few years, and the supervisors of Mount Fujisakane reported a drastic diminish in the demons roaming the grounds. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, now would you?"

"...even if I did, those are weak demons." The boy argued, "Any lucky Mizunoto could slay their fair share in their weeklong stay."

"That might be so, but the same can't be said for the demons that you fought alongside Kanao Tsuyuri, don't you agree?" Kagaya pointed out, "Keeping pace with a Tsuguko alone would be an impressive feat in and of itself. It was, in fact, what first led to you catching my attention, and it's what made me want to test you."

Tanjiro paused upon hearing that, before comprehension dawned on him, "Wait, you don't mean..."

"That's right. I was the one who sent you out to Kaigara Town, alongside the two other interesting prospects graduated from the Final Selection." He admitted, "Had I known this wasn't just the work of a single demon or that a Demon Moon was involved, I would've instead sent out a Pillar to deal with it. But lo and behold, not only did the three of you settle the problem yourselves, you in particular actually managed to singlehandedly slay Lower Moon Six in the process. Now, the two boys were impressive on their own right and will receive rightful promotions for it, but you...you do understand the weight of what you accomplished, don't you, Tanjiro?

The Demon Slayer's eyes narrowed as he stared at the ground momentarily, "...Demon Slayers that kill Demon Moons are promoted to Pillars. Is that what you're trying to say?"

"It's not just that." Kagaya told him, "The record time for any of my Pillars to achieve their rank upon joining the Demon Slayers was two months, and yet you managed to meet the requirements to become one in half that time. You more than proved yourself worthy of such a position."

"...yeah...about that...I'm not interested." Tanjiro finally admitted, letting out the main thought that had silently bothered him constantly for the last few days, "I do not wish to become a Pillar."

Kagaya's serene smile was broken momentarily as it gave way to a look of mild surprise, "Huh...would you mind sharing why?"

Tanjiro hesitated for a second, but replied, "...you seem like a good person, sir. And I can relate with the wish to rid this world of demons more than anything...but there are things about the Demon Slayer Corps of which I disagree with."

Kagaya raised an eyebrow, "Such as?"

"...while most of my family were killed by a demon, it wasn't just any demon." He confessed, "My sister was turned into a demon. She tried to attack me at first, but I spoke to her and...I remember seeing something of her in there. She stopped attacking me, she looked at me...she began to cry..." Tanjiro took a deep breath, pausing for a moment to recompose himself before adding, "...and then she was decapitated by a Demon Slayer."

"...I'm sorry. That must have been quite traumatic." The man told him sympathetically, "But as you yourself said, we are all still working towards the same goal...so what is actually the problem here?"

"Demon Slayers...slay demons. Unhesitantly and indiscriminately. But demons were once people too, and there's always some vestige of humanity left in them." Tanjiro remarked, "I've never slain a demon I made sure wasn't innocent first...and I know it might seem naive, but I can't bring myself to slaying demons without my own judgment first. Because if there's an innocent one among them like my sister was...I want to protect them at all costs."

He waited then, silently, for Kagaya's reaction. The man, despite being blind, seemed to again stare straight at him with a completely blank look on his face, before suddenly the corner of his lip twitched up and he snickered, before chuckling, and soon thereafter full-on boisterously laughing, as if he'd just heard the funniest joke of his life. Tanjiro could only stare at the Demon Slayer Leader cackling in astonishment, not at all having expected that, nor sure exactly what the man was laughing at. For a second, he thought Kagaya might be laughing at his ideals, but it didn't feel like it...it was more like something Tanjiro wasn't privy to. An inside joke.

"Oh, Tanjiro..." The Demon Slayer's Leader managed to say as his laughter died down, "You truly are an interesting one, you know that...?"

"...I guess?" He queried, not sure quite what to answer.

"Anyhow...I suppose there isn't much I can do if you truly aren't interested in the Pillar position. Just know my offer is always open should you change your mind." Kagaya dictated, "However, it wouldn't be accurate to keep you as a Mizunoto after what you have accomplished either. You'll be granted the Kinoe rank, the highest rank outside of the Pillars themselves. As for your friends...I think they'll make for good Tsuchinoe after they've accomplished. You'll all receive a substantial raise with the rank upgrade, of course."

"I'm grateful for your understanding." Tanjiro thanked him, "And I'm sure both of them will be happy to hear this too."

Kagaya nodded, before then saying, "Well, I suppose that's all I wished to talk to you about. Shinobu, Obanai, you can both come in."

The boy blinked then, having momentarily forgotten that the two Pillars were standing just outside the door listening to this whole conversation. He glanced over this shoulder as they came in, and noticed the looks he was getting. Obanai seemed more annoyed than usual, really staring him down, probably at something wrong he said while he forgot the short-tempered pillar was around. Shinobu though...the look on her face was an odd one, one he couldn't quite get a proper read on, but whatever it was, he was fairly sure it was about him. They both approached and knelt before Kagaya at either side of him.

"You refused Lord Ubuyashiki's offer to Pillardom..." Obanai muttered angrily as he knelt to Tanjiro's right, "I've never seen something so disrespectful, so out of touch, so-"

"Leave him be, Obanai." Shinobu spoke up then from his left, "He's made his decision, and Lord Ubuyashiki has agreed to it already."

"You two," Kagaya called out calmly, "I told you to stay outside precisely not to interfere with such things so, at my behest, please leave Tanjiro be."

"...of course." Obanai said in an immediate change of tone, once again bowing, "My deepest apologies, Lord Ubuyashiki." Shinobu, though bowing too, remained silent, her eyes still glancing over silently towards Tanjiro with unspoken curiosity, something the boy silently tried to ignore and instead focus on Kagaya himself.

"Now, the reason I called you here is to act as witnesses." The sickly man explained, "Due to my worsening state, I am no longer able to perceive most things around me, so today I will ask the two of you to be my eyes and to closely observe what comes next."

"What...comes next?" Tanjiro inquired, tilting his head in slight confusion.

Kagaya's calm smile widened slightly before he reached out behind him, and drew forth something, long and thin, wrapped in cloth. From length alone, Tanjiro already had a fair idea of what it was even as the Demon Slayer leader unwrapped it before finally revealing the two wooden swords lying on the cloth. "I was hoping you would give us somewhat of a demonstration of your prowess, Tanjiro. After all, even if yours is not the original Breath of the Sun, it is still worth watching it in action seeing as it managed to best a Demon Moon in combat. It might not be as intense, but I believe we might all learn a lot from the chance of seeing you sparring."

Hearing that, Shinobu suddenly frowned then, "Lord Ubuyashiki...I am not sure this is a wise idea. Tanjiro had just recently had his arm broken." She pointed out, "It would be best for his recovery if he didn't push himself too hard needlessly,"

"Oh, is that so?" He turned to Tanjiro, "Is your arm badly hurt?"

"...not too badly." The boy admitted, raising his left arm and the blue armband helping keep his broken bone in place, "But I don't want to risk making it worse and delaying my recovery. I need to go back to demon-slaying as soon as I can."

"That is most unfortunate, I really was hoping to get some idea of your capabilities today..." Kagaya lamented, "Still if you really don't wish to partake in this, there is little we all can do."

"Yes...thank you." Tanjiro bowed his head briefly but, in doing so, he paused and pursed his lips slightly as he looked at both wooden swords laid down on the Demon Slayer leader's lap, a thought crossing his mind, "...if you don't mind me asking though if Shinobu and Obanai were both gonna watch for you, then who would've sparred against me?"

"A fair question." Kagaya noted, "Well, while I am sure both Shinobu or Obanai would be more than able to give you a good fight, neither are normal swordsman like yourself and rely more on their own specialties in defeating their opponents. To make sure you showed the full extent of your training, I contacted another nearby Pillar in order to make sure..." He drifted off then and paused as suddenly a series of footsteps were heard coming from the corridor, "Ah...that must be him."

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow curiously and turned around to look just as the door behind him was slid open, and his eyes went wide as he immediately recognized the man who'd just entered the room. He hadn't changed a bit since that fateful day, from the haori split across in the middle between a light red and a yellow square pattern, wearing the traditional Demon Slayer garbs with long black hair and unbearably cold blue eyes, "Lord Ubuyashiki, I am here at your request." The Pillar announced, before taking note of the incredulous boy staring straight at him.

"Ah, Giyu," The blind Kagaya calmly greeted his Water Pillar, oblivious to Tanjiro's shock, "I am glad to see you join us today."

**A/N: Wow...last chapter received loads of feedback. Plenty of favorites, plenty of followers, tons of reviews. Honestly didn't expect that, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was a Wham Moment in the story, Nezuko's return, and whatnot. Can't deny it though, that was a good chapter. I even wrote it so its length was exactly 10k words, but couldn't comment on it last Author's Note in fear of breaking that number. **

**Anyway, moving on to the chapter itself and the little that I really have to say about it, this was more character-centered than anything. It's good to write some chapters of people interacting with one another again after so much fighting. Plus, all three Pillars who've appeared in the story return for this chapter, so that affords me some great character moments. Probably not the most thrilling chapter, but home to some cool interactions. Getting Tanjiro to start properly meeting the Pillars feels good. **

**Something else though. In this chapter, we went over the Breath of the Sun a bit, and SPOILERS if you aren't up to date with the manga, but in the latest chapter we learn that the Thirteenth Form of the Breath of the Sun is actually formed one through twelve done continuously to nullify the drawback. Now, they never even gave us the numbers for the techs, so there's no way I'd know this is even relevant, which is why I changed the Breath's specific techniques as I well wished. This kind of has come to bite me in the ass now, but what I'll do is essentially keep the idea of what the thirteenth form is while changing the moves in the dance to fit in what I'm doing thus far. I'm also still waiting for an explanation as to why the Kamado and exclusively the Kamado can learn the Breath of the Sun. I and DownwnwardDive brainstormed some possible reasons if there just isn't an explanation then, so worst case I just have to make up something.**

**Speaking of him, thanks to DownwardDive, who's finally reviewed this story! Hurray! Now he just has to do so every chapter forever.**

**So, onto the reviews. **

_LasterBitz: __The plot is great, congrats_

**Thanks, I try. **

_Mukuro1796: Okay finally we know about Nezuko again, is something that almost, if not, everybody want to know since the end of chapter one, now of we count Nezuko in the Natagumo arc, then somethings will get more than interesting, and in the next chapter we'll see how Tanjiro reacts to the meet with Iguro, I look forward to it. I read you in the next chapter._

**Yep, I plan on getting back to Nezuko in the next chapter or the one after that to get some idea of what she's doing in Natagumo. I do hope you liked Tanjiro & co meeting the Pillars, though the main event here is reserved for next chapter and his reaction to Giyu.**

_ST0RMCROWN: I wonder if Nezuko is actually going to kill a pillar. I want to see her fight someone and see what skills she have. Can't wait for the next chapter. :)_

**We'll get a chance to see what she's got soon enough, so bear with me.**

_LegoMyEggo02: I really love this story, but your use of future tense whenever we see through Tanjiro can be very distracting. Other than that, keep up the good work and take breaks when you need to._

**I didn't even realize I was doing that. Oof, that's embarrassing. I'll try and correct it as best I can, my bad.**

_bp136714: YES, brutalize canon with stick! I can hardly wait to see where you take this next._

**Wow, this one had me actually laughing out loud like an idiot in the bus. But no, you're right, that is pretty much what I'm doing here.**

_DownwardDive: Twelve moons being introduced and discussed mostly somewhat in the twelfth chapter; the unofficial co-writer finally reviewing when the story shifts to what was originally planned somewhat; Upper Moon 1 putting his title to use and have the moon represent ILLUMINATIon… conspiracy much?_

_Anyway, thought I owed you much as I finally got up to speed with everything. I liked the idea that instead of offing the Lower Moons as comedy relief as shown in Canon, you decided to go through them all showcasing their abilities. I do find that Kamanue had an interesting ability, and despite being the weakest of the Lower Moons, he actually had potential in being the strongest due to his resourceful BDA—given he had a few more years of consumption and fighting experience. I honestly thought that someone would have to step into the mix and save Tanjirou; even going as me thinking that the Stone Pillar would be sent as a result of Ubuyashiki hearing of Tanjirou. Earth against Metal, though we all know who would win._

_Small note; Enmu. I never really liked him, and I honestly did find that his fight was a bit lackluster and boring in terms of how little of a struggle it was in terms of how he was dealt with. There never was that same sense of tension versus the fight against Rui and his family; a much weaker Lower Moon. I did like that Akaza was introduced, maybe the author herself saw that it would make fans feel like something was lacking if he didn't appear and show Tanjirō and his friends the true difference between a Lower Moon and an Upper Moon. However, I do think things can be remedied somewhat… that will be left for some further planning._

_Anyway, it was glad to see Nezuko–I mean Chihime be brought back to the story. I'm unaware of what exact plans you have for her, but I can actually see something interesting… Possibly being along the lines of her combing her Breathing Technique and Blood Demon Art to create something such as Breath of Blood. It was also pretty funny to see Upper Moon 1 body the entire selection of Lower Moon in one attack; at least you can see who he's related to in this instance._

_Finally, it's great to see the G.O.A.T. Pillar to have his debut and in an extremely badass way. I mean, that is why I did write a one-shot of him, selfless advertising not to be intended. I do see Obanai being there for two reasons that could be combined into one; recruit him officially into the Demon Slayer Corps and become a pillar, both of which would make him meet Ubuyashiki. It would be interesting seeing as this would be the first time in nearly half a millennium that there would be a Sun Pillar._

_Can't wait for the next chapter!_

**Now, don't overstate yourself, mr co-writer, you took your sweet ass time even posting this one, and I hope you can keep it up.**

**Kamanue did have a lot of potential. His Blood Demon Art was well suited specifically against Demon Slayers, making him a feasible threat despite being the lower of the Lower Moons. Personally, I think that was a stroke of genius since it makes him intimidating despite still not being as powerful as the others above him. One thing I never had the context nor situation to put in the story is that I imagine his neck to be as hard to cut with his ability activated as Gyutaro's, except due to the nature of metal, Tanjiro exploited a cheat that made those defenses null.**

**Yeah, Enmu was pretty much an opening act for Akaza to enter and tear shit up and show how strong he is...you know, I didn't realize until I wrote this, but Lower Moons and Upper Moons never once meet in the series. The last Lower Moon dies just seconds before the first Upper Moon is introduced. Still done way too quickly though.**

**You have somewhat of the right idea with the Breath of Blood, but not quite. That is a surprise I'm saving for later. And yes, Kokushibo destroying the entirety of the Lower Moons was pretty great to me too.**

**...honestly, when I first thought this out, the only reason Obanai was introduced here is exactly because of his lack of character. That has since been remediated through his backstory and cool feats, but the decision remained, and thus here we are. **

_Somnolent Sushi Roll yey Nezuko! Poor Tanjiro having to defeat all of these demons just to see his sister become one of the things he is fighting against. And Tanjiro gets to become a pillar?! cool_

**Yeah, sorry about the Pilalr thing, but nah. Still, you're right that when he realises his sister's alive and full demon, it's gonna be a hard blow.**

_DriftingPhoenix: Heya! It's me again! So is Nezuko/Chihime's blood demon art going to modify itself so that it hurts humans? Or is Nezuko/Chihime going to have a completely different blood art? Also I wonder what Kokoshibo taught her to make her this way. Will Tanjiro also have to uphold his promise and face down all the other lower moons, since in this world they weren't killed? Also what does Chihime mean in English?_

**One thing the manga never made clear by is left implicit is that demons aren't born with Demon Blood Arts, they develop it. Which was why Nezuko was a demon that could only hurt demons, given the path she took. Here, Chihime's blood art will be similar, but not quite the same, and will play second fiddle to her swordsmanship.**

**Also, Chihime means blood princess in basic japer nease.**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: Yeah called it! Almost. And I am a dude :). You mentioned that my reviews are kinda not about the current chapter, sorry abut that :P. But I can't help myself with thinking what will come next and short of writes it ..._

_I am still wondering of aftermatch of all this. From what I got all of this lower six arc was on Iguro teritorry. Sanemi and Iguro don't really like Tanjiro in canon but they don't have any reason to hate him here. Tanjiro in your story is reluctant to all those ranks but I kind of hope that he won't turn down a pillar title. After all with a higher rank comes more responsibilities and he would be send to fight a lot difficult opponents, and that would give him more occasions to get stronger too. After all even if they have the territory to protect it's not like they only get missions in those regions. So yeah there is a lot merit for him when he becomes pillar so I hope he won't turn it down. Though I hope he won't kill Giyu on pillar meeting :/_

_And Nezuko is finally here! Actually I kind of hope that Nezuko will climb ranks of demon moons by fighting in blood battles(I think that's how they are called? That's when two moons fight each other for higher position. Kokushibo once mentioned it to Akaza once when they held a meeting after upper six got killed, cuz he was a rude to Doma) I mean I hope she won't be staying as lower 5 all the time and move up only cuz other lower moon got killed. Just as Tanjiro gets stronger I would also see her to get stronger too) And one more question... If upper moon taugh her does that mean she can use breaths too? She would be really op if that were true :p._  
_He would even get a new house, probably. I don't think he would want to live in his old one... I deffinetly wouldn't want to come back to the house where my whole family was brutally killed. Can't wait for the next chapter good luck!_

**Sorry, sorry...something in my brain told me Cieszesi was a female name and I just typed it in without noticing. Also, like I said, I don't really mind a review like that, but that kinda discussion works better in PM's rather than waiting for every chapter so I can reply.**

**Well, Obanai met Tanjiro, but he was never the most social guy, and so making a bad impression on Tanjiro for me was only natural. We never got to see enough of him to know fully, but I see Obanai as the kind of guy who very probably will automatically dislike you until you convince him of otherwise. As for Tanjiro...yeah, sorry, he ain't becoming a Pillar today. That would just be too easy, and I don't want things to be too easy. Regarding killing Giyu though, that part is still up in the table, and you'll have to read on to find that part out.**

**I remember Blood Battles, yes. Curious that such an aspect was thrown out there but never expanded. Seeing your comment got me thinking about them again and what they entail. Based on Akaza's "I'll definitively kill you" statement, it would indicate that a blood battle is something that goes to the death...somehow. But that might not necessarily be the case. Gotta study this a bit further.  
**

**Also, no big spoiler, but yes, Chihime can use breathing techniques. She is different from anyone else with them though because unlike even Demon Slayers who were turned into demons, her process of learning began after she underwent that transformation.**

**Anyway, hope to hear more of your thoughts about all this, so yeah, 'till next time. **

_DEMONEZUKO: Nezuko is back!_

**That she is.**

_Arkham Knight: Nezuko finally appears and the pillars meeting will begin. This is becoming good with every chapter. The fact that Nezuko goes by another name coul mean that she does not remember Tanjiro or family. Being trained by the upper moon one and Tanjiro by his brother. History repeats itself._

**Yeah, that was the idea. Sun and moon, human and demon, siblings divided by fate. You're right in that her human memories aren't there, just like 99% of the demons baring Douma, Kaigaku and Kokushibou, but that does not mean she recalls nothing form that time. More on that coming next chapters though.**

_Ztassassin555: If tanjirou becomes a pillar he will benefit extremely because as we saw in the manga when pillars are chosen they undergo and extreme amount of hellish training so tanjirou can become alot stronger if he becomes a pillar because pillar is nit just a title so I'm in support of tanjirou becoming a pillar "menacing" ゴゴゴ_

**Well...I'm not sure that's the case. I might be wrong, so do correct me if so, but I think you might be confusing this kind of training with the Pillar training they all did together right before the start of this final arc, which is not a normal occurrence everyone undergoes upon joining the ranks. ****Anyway, it doesn't really matter that much since Tanjiro ain't becoming a Pillar today.**

**So, those were the reviews for today. Like I already said, I received a lot of Favorites, Follows and Reviews from last chapter. This story is currently the THIRD best-reviewed Kimetsu no Yaiba story in the site, and the NINTH most Favorited and Followed. I know those are just numbers, but my competitive side begs me to keep track of them, especially when I'm so close to the 200 follower mark...**

**If you want to contribute to those numbers and guarantee I don't run out of inspiration to keep writing this with new chapters pretty much every week...well, you read the last twelve, you know what I post at the end of every one of these. Go write a review! **

**Sky signing out.**


	14. A Heated Spar

Giyu Tomioka walked through the corridors of Ubuyashiki Mansion, making his way to meet with the leader of the Demon Slayers. According to Kagaya, his help in specific was required for an important task, the nature of which had been kept vague. Regardless, he was a Demon Slayer, and his superior was calling for him. It was thus his duty to present himself.

As he turned a corner nearing his destination, he'd overhear Kagaya's voice faintly speaking out as he approached the fusuma leading out to the mansion's inner garden, "Ah…that must be him." A moment later, he would pull open the door, and be met with three figures sat staring over at him despite having their backs turned to him, all three knelt facing Kagaya Ubuyashiki, their leader.

"Lord Ubuyashiki," He said immediately, "I am here at your request."

"Ah, Giyu…I am glad to see you joining us today." Kagaya said as Giyu then took note of the two figures sitting before the man, the ones at the sides perfectly recognizable as his fellow Pillars, Shinobu and Obanai. The middle one though was a younger teenager with burgundy hair down to his neck and a pair of hanafuda-looking earrings, wearing a red haori over a kimono and with a sword sheathed at his waist. Most importantly though, the boy was just staring incredulously at Giyu for reasons the Pillar himself could not for his life figure out.

"_…do I know him…?_" He wondered, feeling faint recognition towards the boy, but unable to exactly place where from. Shaking off the thought, he'd step in properly into the room and walk up to the other Pillars, kneeling down before Kagaya in between Shinobu and the still staring boy he was trying to ignore. "How can I best serve you?"

"Well, I called you here in order to spar with young Tanjiro here in order to test his steel, but unfortunately due to his injuries, it seems we won't be getting such a chance today." Kagaya told him, to which Giyu only pursed his lips before opening his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted.

"Lord Ubuyashiki." The boy beside him, Tanjiro apparently, called out with his head lowered, causing their leader to turn towards him curiously.

"Yes, Tanjiro?"

"I have reconsidered." Tanjiro declared assertively, his eyes staring fixedly into the ground, "I wish to go through with the spar after all."

Giyu saw then that the boy beside him was no longer staring at him, but rather had his gaze lowered, but with an intensity on them that once again scratched at his memory, however unsuccessfully. At his other side though, Shinobu frowned and would turn over to the young Demon Slayer, "Tanjiro, are you sure you want to do this? Your arm, it's-"

"I'm certain." Tanjiro said unfalteringly while still staring down, leaving Giyu to only wonder what was going through the boy's head.

"Don't interrupt when a Pillar's talking, have some respect!" Obanai hissed out from the other side.

Kagaya meanwhile paused, his calm smile turning into a slight scowl as he seemed to ponder something for a moment before speaking out, "…alright, we will go on with the spar as planned. Try not to overdo it though. You should always be aware of your own limits, understood?" He asked, to which Tanjiro only silently nodded, and despite not even seeing as much, that seemed to be good enough for Kagaya, "As for you, Giyu…I expect you to know how to control your own strength. You're a seasoned Pillar against a fairly fresh Demon Slayer after all. Try your best to draw out his best without overdoing it."

"Of course, Lord Ubuyashiki." Giyu said, even as he glanced at the boy's fixated stare at the ground. Whatever was going on with this boy, he'd at least have a chance to draw it out and test his skill as a Demon Slayer.

* * *

Moments later, both combatants stood in the garden across from one another, each holding a bokken given to them by Kagaya. Tanjiro held his blade raised before him with a two-handed grip while Giyu stood across from him holding his own bokken down with a similar grip, staring down the younger Demon Slayer silently, "_…yep. I'm certain of it._" Tanjiro silently thought to himself, "_He doesn't recognize me at all._"

That thought alone bothered him even more than the situation as a whole already did. The very man who'd slain his sister years ago without a hint of remorse, who'd easily put him on the ground during their first meeting, now standing there before him, completely unaware of what he'd done. Try as he might, Tanjiro just couldn't hold down the anger building up in him the longer he stared at those empty blue eyes. "_He's the one…the bastard who killed my sister. And he's a Pillar, of all things. He beat me down then, and there's nothing I can do about Nezuko…but if I can beat him now, that's definite proof that I've really changed from the useless kid who left his family die…I can prove all of Master Yoriichi's training didn't go to waste…_"

"Lord Ubuyashiki, they are both in position._" _Obanai declared, now standing at one side of the Demon Slayer Leader's, looking somewhat bitter that he wasn't in Giyu's position. Something told Tanjiro he'd have some fun having a go at him. Shinobu, who stood at the other side of Kagaya, looked bothered by the turn things had taken, but was remaining silent about it.

Kagaya, meanwhile, nodded, "In that case, you can both move at my signal." He declared, raising a hand up high and causing both swordsmen to suddenly stiffen in their stance and breathe in before he brought it down, "Begin!"

The moment he said so, Tanjiro moved in a blur, and he was upon Giyu in the blink of an eye, his bokken descending for a blow right at his neck, except the Pillar's blade would rise at the last moment to intercept his own. The boy bit his lower lip and tightened his grip before throwing another quick series of blows, forcing the constantly defending Giyu to back up while keeping his guard up to protect himself from Tanjiro's heated assault. The short exchange that followed lasted a total of seven seconds, and contained a total of eighteen blows, all thrown by the younger Demon Slayer yet nonetheless all blocked by the Pillar's own steady sword. Finally, at the eighteenth blow, Giyu would deflect his bokken and go in for his first attack, a rising diagonal swing that Tanjiro only barely tilted his head to the side to dodge before quickly backing up in order to evade the vertical slash that followed.

He landed with a slight stumble, panting lightly while ignoring the pain of his broken arm. Giyu on the other hand only raised his blade calmly without the barest hint of tiring in his face, "Damn…the kid is pretty fast." Obanai admitted, watching the fight off to the side, "But he's still not as fast as a Pillar."

Tanjiro also ignored that assessment, breathing in deeply before moving in at Giyu with his bokken gripped tightly. He approached the Pillar from the side and swung in. Sure enough, Giyu raised his own blade to block the blow, only for Tanjiro to feint at the last moment and switch it to strike at his other side. Even this though failed to get a blow in as the Pillar moved his blade to only barely deflect the blow with the very tip of his bokken. He tried to press for an advantage, however, Tanjiro quickly realized the opportunity wasn't there as Giyu continued blocking his blows with an impeccable defense. They went in a quick back and forth, switching between offensive and defensive, one of them testing the waters with his younger foe while the other frantically pressed his opponent to the best of his abilities.

Following that, the two would disengage slightly before rushing right back at each other and starting their exchange of blows again, except unlike last time where either of them would block the other's blows, Tanjiro's attacks this time were more careful, and it switched the pace of the fight into a dodging contest as either opponent swung and had their blow evaded only to be forced into dodging their opponent's counterattack a moment later themselves, rinse and repeat. Never did either of their blades make contact, up until both threw a blow at each other simultaneously and had both their bokken block one another. Tanjiro tried once again following up with a powerful and precise series of strikes, but they were all intercepted alike by the slowly retreating pillar. That is until Giyu deflected one of his strikes and managed to hold down his bokken, trying for a disarming maneuver, only for Tanjiro to counter and throw an upended horizontal swing that caused the two to lock blades momentarily when the Pillar blocked it before pushing back the younger Demon Slayer, sending him skidding back.

Giyu didn't wait for him to recover this time around though and dashed straight in moving for the offensive. His blows were fluid and swift, but sensing the smell of their intent, Tanjiro was only barely able to block them while he himself fell back defensively. He was barely able to keep up the defensive against Giyu's offense, many of the Pillar's attacks being very narrowly evaded or blocked. And yet, he held strong and bided his time, until he saw the right chance to seize his chance and turn the tables on his foe. Said chance came when he was able to telegraph one of Giyu's strikes and swung in his own bokken hard to meet it. Both blows struck one another and knocked back both Demon Slayer's blades, Tanjiro's being sent over his shoulder while Giyu's was knocked back over his head.

Keeping the grip on his bokken tight though, Tanjiro used his momentum on a rotatory motion to build momentum and try to land a meaningful strike on Giyu. Of course, if he were to do that though, he couldn't really hold back… "Breath of the Sun, Fourth Dance…"

Realizing what the boy was about to do, The Pillar's eyes widened as he then gripped his bokken tighter, aiming to counter in kind, "Breath of Water, Eighth Style,"

"…Burning Sunrise!" Tanjiro's bokken seemed to ignite in flames as it was swung in an upwards strike aimed at Giyu.

"Waterfall Basin." Giyu answered in kind as his blade was brought down at Tanjiro, a wide stream of water seeming to form around it brought down with crushing force.

The flames seemed to cut through the waterfall for a moment before both blades made contact and there was a loud snapping sound that canceled both flame and water alike, the sudden clash sending both swordsmen stumbling back, Tanjiro somewhat more so than Giyu, both left with a hilt and about half of a wooden blade each as both their swords simultaneously snapped in their clash.

Kagaya raised an eyebrow as he took note of the sound, "…I presume that sound means someone's bokken snapped?"

"Both did, at the same time." Obanai clarified, staring at the two combatants annoyedly, "And neither of them even managed to hit one another…"

"That makes it a technical tie." Shinobu declared, seeming likewise discontent, but for very different reasons.

Most upset of all was Tanjiro though, who was staring down at the ground wide-eyed, still panting in the aftermath of the duel. "_That was no tie._" He noted silently, "_If we were wielding real blades, he would've overwhelmed me in that last clash…and I'd be dead._"

"I suppose that should be enough for today." Kagaya told them, "Thank you two for the demonstration."

Tanjiro silently bowed with his head still lowered and began walking off rather quickly, straight past Ubuyashiki and the other two Pillars. He didn't look back despite Shinobu's and Obanai's gazes following him, but would be forced to stop when a hand was placed on his shoulder, "Wait," He'd then hear Giyu, the hand's owner, call out to him, and he furrowed his eyebrows, "...we've met before, haven't we?"

"Don't touch me." Tanjiro slapped the hand off his shoulder much to the man's surprise, "I don't care for your status. Doesn't redeem what you did."

Giyu could only stare at his back in confusion, "I'm...not sure I know what you mean..." He admitted, evidently unsure of what to do.

Tanjiro took a deep breath, having to resist the strong urge to just turn around and punch the Pillar right in the face, "...alright. Then answer me something." He said, causing the man to raise an eyebrow, "Your sword, it has 'slay all evil demons' written in it? Is that your motto? The thing you live by?"

"...it's more than that." Giyu said then, unsure of what to make of the question, but answering it regardless, "It is the Pillar's way, as well as part of the oath we all take when we are granted the burden of such a position."

"Ah. I see." He then turned and glared over his shoulder at Giyu, the animosity in his eyes barely different from the one he'd show a demon, "Then why'd you kill my sister?"

Giyu suddenly froze at the accusation, not sure of what to respond for a moment as he opened his mouth and nothing came out. And then, a moment later, recognition finally seemed to strike him as those words brought back the memories of their encounter, "...you're..."

"Yeah. Thought so." Tanjiro said coldly before the Pillar could even recover from the shock, he'd walked through the fusuma and was gone.

* * *

Giyu was left standing still, shocked at the realization of who the boy he'd just sparred against really was.

"...so did you really kill his sister?" Shinobu asked after a moment, shaking him out of it.

"...I believe I understand what's happened now." Kagaya said with a small sigh, "Tanjiro did mention his sister was turned into a demon and cut down by a Demon Slayer...but I would've never thought that Demon Slayer would be you, Giyu. If I'd known, I wouldn't have picked you as his sparring partner..."

"...yeah," Giyu muttered, staring down with a look of frustration. Maybe it was understandable for him to take so long to remember. After all, what must've been the worst day of Tanjiro's life was for Giyu little more than a particularly depressing Thursday. He did, however, remember if only for a faint moment, feeling sympathy towards a slain demon as it died off. The boy's sister, as it tragically turned out. "perhaps he wasn't unjustified in being so hostile towards me."

"Are you kidding?" Obanai scoffed, "The kid is mad over you killing a demon. We're Demon Slayers, what did he expect?"

"It was his sister, Obanai." Shinobu said scoldingly at him, "It must be hard to divorce a demon from someone you knew after they turned, especially if he'd never seen a demon before that..."

"Well, either way, the brat will understand with time." The Snake Pillar grunted, "There is no such thing as good demons in this world, let alone innocent ones. At least if a mindset like that doesn't get him killed first."

"...I don't think so." Giyu admitted, "He was strong. Not Pillar level, but not too far behind it either."

"Indeed," Shinobu agreed, "Even though it was a foolish decision for him to still spar with that broken arm of his, I didn't expect him to actually pull a stalemate out of you, Giyu..."

"I didn't expect his breathing style to be so powerful." He admitted, "Even though had gravity on my side he still managed to generate enough force to overwhelm my blade in the clash. And it looked like Kyojuro's Breath of Flames, but he called it..."

"Yes...I suppose since you just arrived, you're a bit out of loop compared to the rest." Kagaya sighed, before motioning for the Water Pillar to sit down, "Take a seat, Giyu. We've still got much to discuss. "

* * *

Sometime later, elsewhere in the Ubuyashiki Mansion, Tanjiro found himself sat with his back against a wall by the gate in which they'd come in. He was staring at his injured arm silently, lips pursed at the throbbing pain resulted from pushing himself in his spar against Giyu. The last clash in between their Breath Techniques, in particular, had really pushed him quite a bit.

Worse than his pain though was the frustration of failing to rise above his sister's killer. The bastard was strong, stronger than he could've ever imagined someone could be the first time he'd seen the man, which was why he hadn't been able to grade his overwhelming skill until today. He was still way below the level of Pillar, and if he wanted to keep this promise and rid this world of the threat of Muzan Kibutsuji and demonkind as a whole, he needed to get stronger still. A lot stronger. "_I could barely beat the lowest of the Lower Moons despite all my training..._" Tanjiro thought to himself, "_I need to take the time I'll be out of commission to train further, get stronger before I go out there_ _again_!"

His line of thought was then interrupted when he sensed a familiar smell, followed by a chill down his spine before he looked up and realized Shinobi had knelt right beside him, her face inches away from his own, her smile way too wide, not that it hid the particularly strong scent of anger he felt coming from her, "Now, what you pulled back there was quite irresponsible, don't you agree, Tanjiro?" She said, the calmness in her voice being only surface-level, and hinting at something far more sinister below it, "Not only did you act disrespectful in front of Lord Ubuyashiki by leaving as you did, but you also put your own recovery at risk because of stupid pride. That is no way to treat someone who worked so hard nursing you, was it?"

Tanjiro, however, was still startled as she said all that, both by how Shinobu snuck up on him and how threatening she seemed at that moment. Of course, ever since he met her, there was this certain smell of animosity coming from her, but never did it seem directed at him. Right now, it definitely was. "I'm...sorry." He said, lowering his head, "I didn't expect that guy to appear there, and my emotions got the better of me."

Shinobu stared at him for another moment before sighing and getting back up, the feeling of her anger directed at him fading as she did, "You're lucky Lord Ubuyashiki's taken a liking to you. Can't say the same about Obanai though...and Giyu...well, Giyu's just Giyu."

Tanjiro paused then for a moment before asking, "Well...what about you?"

She raised an eyebrow at his question, "Me...?" She paused for a second, before opening a small but genuine smile, "Well...I do like you, Tanjiro. But you can say that I am a bit biased in that matter."

"Uh...what do you 'biased'?" Tanjiro inquired in slight confusion.

"...you know, both Obanai and I heard your whole talk with Lord Ubuyashiki from outside the room. Including the whole part about...in your own words, innocent demons." She admitted.

"You don't agree with me in that, do you?" Tanjiro asked her, before looking down slightly, "That's fine. I don't expect any of you to believe what I say. It's part of my quest, not yours."

"No...no, I don't," The Insect Pillar affirmed, "I cannot even imagine how one could feel pity for such a horrible creature that devours humans. It is absurd." She took a deep breath then, "...that said, I did use to know another Demon Slayer who shared values very similar to your own, Tanjiro."

Tanjiro turned to her then, somewhat surprised that there was another Demon Slayer who felt as he did, "Uh...who was it?"

Shinobu paused for a moment, eyes narrowing sadly before saying, "...my big sister, Kanae Kocho. She was the Flower Pillar before she died against an Upper Moon demon. She always pitied demons, down to her very last breath. 'They are just humans like us, locked in an eternal existence with nothing but hunger and despair,' is what she used to say..." The Insect Pillar recalled, "...' it's a fate much worse than death'."

"...your big sister seems like she was a very kind person," Tanjiro noted sympathetically.

"She was..." Shinobu agreed, before turning to him, "...and so are you, Tanjiro. I tried very hard to keep Kanae's ideals alive, to give a chance for every demon I meet, just like you do...but it is so exhausting. They do nothing but lie and kill...so to see someone doing something similar with so much conviction, it's admirable really. And it's what I like about you, Tanjiro."

"...thanks, Shinobu." He earnestly told her, "This whole thing with the Water Pillar brought back some memories...but I guess I feel a little better now."

"That's good to know," She said, "Now, get up. Until you're all well and healed, you and your friends will be taking residence in the Butterfly Mansion. There at least we can all make sure you're not careless with that arm of yours again."

"Right...sorry again." He apologized sheepishly as he rose back to his feet, him and Shinobu soon walking through the gate and making their way out of the Ubuyashiki Mansion.

* * *

After a lot more walking, the two of them would eventually cross the gates into yet another mansion, this one not as sizeable as the last, but still very impressive nonetheless. As they entered, the two would be suddenly accosted by a girl around Tanjiro's age with deep blue eyes and straight black hair with a parted fringe, as well as two blue butterfly clips similar to the ones Shinobu and Kanao had in order to keep her twintails in place. Alongside all that, she wore a blue-tinged version of the Demon Slayer uniform, "Lady Shinobu!" She exclaimed with an immediate bow, "We've tended to and accommodated the two Demon Slayers as you've requested!"

"Good work, Aoi." Shinobu commended the girl, "But there is one more Demon Slayer we'll be giving shelter here until he heals. This here is Tanjiro Kamado. Tanjiro, this is Aoi, the second-best medic you can find in the Demon Slayer Corps. I should know...after all, I trained her myself."

"Nice to meet you." The boy nodded towards her.

"Likewise," Aoi replied shortly.

"Now, why don't you show him where his friends are staying." Shinobu told her, "I have some Pillar business to handle now."

"Of course! Come along now!" Aoi exclaimed, grabbing Tanjiro by his sleeve and dragging him off. As he looked back, the boy would see Shinobu with a wide smile and closed eyes, waving goodbye to him.

Tanjiro and Aoi would go around the grounds of the large mansion until the former began hearing the sounds of a string instrument being played nearby, and would turn the corner to see Zenitsu sitting at the edge of a balcony leading into the garden with a shamisen, playing away at the instrument with unexpected skill. Tanjiro just stood there, watching surprised at the talent he didn't know his friend had. He was about to comment something about it with Aoi, but when he turned to look at her, the girl was walking away in a hurry, already halfway across the courtyard. Shrugging, he began approaching Zenitsu, at which point the blond-haired boy would take note of him, opening his eyes and stopping his playing.

"Hey, you're back!" The boy noted, "How was the meeting with the Demon Slayer Leader?"

"It was...interesting." Tanjiro admitted, sitting beside Zenitsu as he turned his gaze to the instrument his fellow Demon Slayer was holding, "I didn't know you could play that."

"Oh? Ah, right. Neither did I, to be honest." Zenitsu admitted, "But because of my good hearing, I always had an affinity for pretty much any instrument I touch. I saw this lying around and decided to give it a try. Pretty sweet, huh?"

"...actually, yeah." He agreed with a small smile, "That is pretty sweet..."

"Yeah...to be honest, I was trying to write a romantic serenade I can sing while playing this." Zenitsu confessed somewhat sheepishly then.

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Oh? You still trying to conquer Kanao?"

"...oh, the girl with the blank stare? Yeah, that's a no," Zenitsu admitted, "I tried all my best moves on her, but all I could get was that same blank smile of her's, not even a 'you're so cool, Zenitsu'...I really don't know how YOU managed to get her attention, but I guess it's best if I leave her to you." That garnered a small sweatdrop from Tanjiro, but he said nothing still, "Now, that Aoi girl...with her, I might actually get somewhere! I think she's already starting to fall for me, even!"

"I saw as much..." The red-clad boy replied, recalling just how quickly Aoi had walked off without another word once they'd started approaching Zenitsu

"Anyway...let's stop beating around the bush then!" Zenitsu suddenly exclaimed as he put the shamisen to the side, wearing a wide grin, "Am I looking at the newest Pillar in the Demon Slayer Corps or what?"

"...yeah...about that..." Tanjiro hesitated for a minute, but the pressure got to him and he soon enough did confess what had happened regarding the Pillar situation.

"...YOU DID WHAT?!" Zenitsu suddenly cried out in indignation, "You denied being a Pillar?! What the hell, man?! You earned it fair and square! Besides, you'd get a massive raise from the shitty 20k they pay us Mizunoto!"

"Uh...actually, I'm not a Mizunoto anymore either." He admitted, "Lord Ubuyashiki said I was well beyond that at this point, and he ended up making me a Kinoe."

"...A KINOE?! That's awesome!" Zenitsu exclaimed again in an immediate mood shift, "They earn like ten times more than a shitty Mizunoto! I'm so jealous, Tanjiro!"

"Well, you're not really a Mizunoto anymore either." Tanjiro informed him, to which the boy froze, "Lord Ubuyashiki said that because of how you helped out back in Kaigara, you'd be promoted to Tsuchinoto."

"...am I?" He asked for a moment before the realization actually seemed to dawn on him, "...holy crap, I am! That's crazy! And awesome! But...I mean...I didn't really do anything back there, to be honest...am I really deserving of it?"

"I'm sure you are. It's not luck that got you this far, Zenitsu." Tanjiro reassured Zenitsu, which seemed to ease him enough, as well as make him somewhat bashful, "By the way, where's Genya? He got the same promotion as you..."

"Uh? Oh, right. He's gone to the bathroom or something." The blond boy said, "He's been gone for a while now...probably has a bad stomach or something. Not surprising, if you eat demon meat..."

"You shouldn't make fun of him, Zenitsu," Tanjiro told him seriously, "You know how hard it is to be a Demon Slayer already, imagine being one that can't use breaths. The guy's trying really hard to do the same we do without half our advantages…"

"...well, I was just saying..." Zenitsu muttered, "Not like it ain't true."

At that very moment though, the door behind them slid open and the two would turn to see Genya staring down at the two of them. There was a moment of awkward silence before he turned over to Tanjiro and spoke, "…I guess maybe you're not as bad as I thought." He admitted, before turning at Zenitsu, "You're still an idiot though."

"And you're a frickin' jerk, did someone ever tell you that?!" The blond boy lashed out in return, to which Genya only rolled his eyes.

"So, did you really refuse an offer to become a Pillar?" He asked, to which Tanjiro raised an eyebrow as he realized Genya had been hearing them talk for longer than they thought.

"Yeah...there are things about their code that I just can't bring myself to agree with..." He confessed, thinking for a second that the scarred boy would lash out and call him an idiot over it as he'd previously done. Rather, he instead just took a deep breath before speaking.

"I guess I can respect that," Genya admitted with arms crossed.

"_...huh. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I'm actually starting to grow on him..._" Tanjiro amusedly noted to himself.

"Anyway, what are you two gonna do now?" The scarred boy asked then. "Once we're good to go here, I mean."

"...I don't know. I think I might stay here a while." Tanjiro told them, "My broken arm is gonna take a couple of weeks to heal fully. Until then, I wanna get in as much training as I can. I only barely managed to beat Lower Moon Six, and that's something I don't ever want to leave to chance again."

"Well...in that case, I guess I might stay here some time too." Zenitsu said then, "It's gonna be hard to go out demon-slaying any time soon with my broken ribs too...so I might as well keep Tanjiro company and train with him for a while..." Tanjiro opened a small smile hearing that, thankful for the company, "...besides, you guys saw the cute girls in this place! I wouldn't mind getting to know them one single bit!"

Tanjiro's smile soured slightly at that and he sighed quietly at Zenitsu's antics before turning to Genya, "What about you, Genya?"

"Well, according to the girl with the pigtails, my burns should be healed in just about a week from now." He replied, "I plan on going out for a mission or two, but nothing too far. I plan on coming back here regardless."

"Aw, does that mean you'd actually miss us, big guy?" Zenitsu asked teasingly with a smirk.

"It's not like that, you dumbass!" Genya huffed, " It's just that...well, I didn't really tell you this before, but my brother is a Pillar himself."

"...ah, so that explains how Obanai knew your brother back then," Tanjiro recalled.

"Yeah, Sanemi's the Wind Pillar. I haven't seen him in over a year now. I tried going to his denoted territory in hopes of meeting him after I passed the Final Selection, but another Slayer told me he was away at the Demon Slayer's Headquarters. Since I couldn't find him, I ended up moving on, which is how I ended up in Kaigara and met you guys." Genya explained, "But I learned Pillars come back to the headquarters to meet amongst themselves every two months from what I heard, and the last meeting happened soon after the Final Selection. If I stick nearby long enough, I should be able to meet my brother again."

"I see...well, I hope you manage to meet him, Genya." Tanjiro told him earnestly.

"Yeah...so do I." He said, drifting off for a moment with a look of uncertainty in him before shaking his head, "Well, anyway, I gotta go practice my mantras now. I'll see you around." Genya would then just walk off, quickly turning a corner out of their view.

"...mantras, huh?" Zenitsu commented once Genya had left, "I wouldn't pick that guy for a devout Buddhist..."

"Neither would I, to be honest..." Tanjiro agreed, "But I guess people can surprise you like that."

"Well, anyway, he did have the right idea! I best get back to my shamisen practice as well if I wanna get that serenade ready." Zenitsu picked up the instrument beside him once again and began strumming experimentally on it.

Tanjiro meanwhile only watched that for a moment before turning away from the practicing Zenitsu, drawing from the scabbard in his waist what little remained of the white Nichirin sword gifted to him by Satoshi back in the Final Selection Trials. It had been a worthy companion for the little time it lasted, allowing him to slay various dangerous demons, and even a Lower Moon despite already being broken then. However, it was time to put it to rest and get a new sword. He recalled picking a mineral in a sword of his own back at the end of the Final Selection. He wondered whatever happened to that...

* * *

Somewhere else in the vastness of the world, in an otherwise emptied dust road, a man in a straw hat and an exaggerated festival mask was angrily screaming at a crow, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'HE'S IN THE DEMON SLAYER HEADQUARTERS'?! I'VE BEEN RUNNING AROUND AFTER THIS BASTARD TO GIVE HIM HIS SWORD FOR OVER A MONTH!"

* * *

Whatever the case was, Tanjiro figured he'd find out eventually.

* * *

That very night, in the Spider Mansion hidden in the depths of Natagumo mountain, a family was having a meal. Rui sat in between his mother and father, a hulking beast of dark brown skin and facial features more akin to a spider and a short pale woman with a dotted face and white hair respectively. Only natural, with him being the favorite child. Across from him sat his brother and sister, a demon with the body of a giant spider and a human-like head and a young woman with white hair and a dotted face like her mother's and little brother's. Demons normally didn't share meals in a table like that, they just killed and ate it by themselves like animals. But they were different, they were a family.

Except this was not the perfect family dinner as it usually was...something had been deeply bothering Rui for the last few days. That being the Spider Family's guest, who currently stood outside on the balcony staring up at the sky as she so often did in plain view from the dining room. Lower Moon Five, Chihime, handed to him by Lord Muzan himself for Rui to babysit. She didn't have much of a notable presence, in fact, she hadn't spoken a word nor eaten anything since she'd arrived. Most nights, she'd just silently stare up at the sky or wander around the mountain, returning just before sunrise.

Still, her being there alone was enough to leave Rui on edge. She was an uninvited and unwanted presence, not part of their family at all. He'd been sending out his family members down the mountain to get enough human meat for a banquet for days now, but now that they were all sat there and eating it, the whole feel of it was ruined because of her presence. Even as Rui sat there, chomping down on a human's organs, the only thing he could do was try his best to ignore her.

Fortunately, it seemed as if some of his family shared his feelings, as his sister too was distracted by the presence of Chihime in the balcony behind her, constantly glancing over her shoulder, not able to fully pay attention to the human arm in her place. Finally, she glanced over at Rui hesitantly before asking "...don't you think we should maybe offer her some meat...?"

Every family member suddenly froze upon hearing the question, and the tension in the room seemed to increase tenfold. None of them, not even the massive Father Spider seemed to move due to Rui's look of boiling rage as he stared down at his plate. Even Chihime turned over to glance over her shoulder, interrupting her skygazing. "What...did you just say...?" Rui inquired dangerously, and the Spider Sister knew she had done something very bad at this point.

"I'm sorry, brother, I just-" She was caught off guard mid-sentence when Rui moved across the trouble and struck her across the face, with enough force to send the demon flying through the wall behind her, past Chihime and off the balcony, hitting the ground below roughly.

The irate Rui walked past the hole still trying to ignore Chihime, before leaping off down the balcony as well after his sister. "I told you...don't speak to her, don't look at her, don't even TALK about her." Rui hissed as he walked up to his downed frightened sister while she tried crawling away, "You've disobeyed my rules, big sister...you know what happens now." The Lower Moon demon raised his hand, strings seeming to appear on thin air connecting to his fingertips, "Hopefully, this time you'll learn your lesson..."

Rui brought down his hand, fully intending to have his strings shred his sister apart with no difficulty whatsoever. And they would, hadn't a hand been grabbed him by the wrist just as he brought down his hand to do so. The Lower Moon Four Demon turned to look to at whoever had stopped him, only to see Chihime standing right beside him, holding him by the arm and preventing his rightful retribution. "You shouldn't hurt your family." She told him simply while staring blankly at the Spider Sister, finally breaking her several-day-long silence.

It required Rui a moment to process what had just happened, but as the situation dawned on him, it became clear how completely infuriated he was at this transgression, "You dare..." He said, slowly and quietly, as the veins in his forehead began contorting in his fury. Without wasting another moment, he backhanded Chihime with his free hand and sent her flying well away from him, with her hitting the ground roughly. "I welcome you to my house as a guest...and that's how you repay me. By intruding on our personal matters as if you're part of this family." He snarled, raising his hand again to resummon his strings as his sister behind him quickly scurried away to avoid the situation, "If you're so intent on protecting her though, guess I'll have to punish you instead!" The demon declared then, bringing his arm down and sending his strings at Chihime, their sheer sharpness tearing through the earth on their way towards her.

Chihime however only rose and sighed quietly, taking a deep breath and placing one hand on her scabbard as the other wrapped around the red hilt of her katana. A moment after her fellow Lower Moon sent his strings at her, she'd disappeared, and there was a loud cutting sound that echoed throughout the forest as all five strings were snapped simultaneously. Not only that, but Rui would feel a sudden pain on the side of his neck before he realized Chihime was standing right in front of him, holding a violet-red tinted nichirin blade up to his neck with the kanji for 'Kill All Evil Demons' engraved near its guard, its edge sinking into his neck just deep enough to prove it could live up to that promise.

Rui stood paralyzed, not even fully sure of what had just happened. How could this be? He'd sent his strings at her, he fully intended to cut her into pieces, yet there she was, his factual and numerical inferior standing before him with his life at her hands, "I thought that as my senior you would be smarter than that. Picking a fight with someone you cannot kill but that can, in turn, kill you...that is most unwise." She noted, pressing her blade ever so slightly further into his neck, "All it would take is a slight push, and if I wanted, I'd have your head."

Rui could say nothing in return, still too shocked at this turn of events to even voice it out, "However...that won't be happening today." She pulled back the katana from his neck, twirling it in her hand before returning seamlessly it to its scabbard, "It is not my intent to kill you. After all, that would greatly displease Lord Muzan."

Despite thinking he couldn't be any more surprised, Rui was wrong. He was left there, dumbfounded as Chihime wordlessly turned her back on him and walked off, leaving her senior Lower Moon behind to fully process what had just happened, "_This cannot be...it makes no sense..._" He thought, sweating slightly, "_Every demon knows it...we're forbidden to even mention His name without our curse activating and immediately claiming our lives...but her..._" The spider demon watched silently as Nezuko walked off, soon disappearing into the darkness of the forest, "_...how is she immune to it...?_"

**A/N: Admittedly this was a bit of a short chapter. Within the 6k to 10k word range I usually aim for, but still on the lower side. I guess this is again a case of me mismanaging the chapter, but for the first time the numbers fell low rather than going too high. It's okay though, I think it ends at a good enough point with a cool cliffhanger. Before anyone points out that it's a plothole for Nezuko to break the curse like she did in canon...well, give me a chance, I'll explain that in due time.**

**First off, getting into the chapter itself I gotta point out something that I changed after I posted last chapter. Initially, Giyu recognizes Tanjiro at the end of the chapter, but as Cieszesi Niezmiernie again pointed out, that should not be the case. Giyu didn't even recognize Tanjiro at first sight in Canon, and there Tanjiro had far more of an impact on him. So I had him not recognize Tanjiro until after their spar this chapter instead. Honestly, it works far better for the story itself that way since I could balance out Giyu and Tanjiro's POV's without losing either of their shock when they recognized the other one. **

**Another interesting thing to point out in this chapter, at least in my opinion, has to do with money. According to the Demon Slayer Wiki, Mizunoto get paid around 20.000 yen as salary, while Pillars get however much they want. According to the limited knowledge I found, and someone tell me if I'm wrong, but that at the time Demon Slayer took place is worth about 500 dollars today. While we never get the salary for the other ranks, the way I decided to work it in this story is that with each promotion gains a raise of 20k, meaning the tenth rank, the Kinoe like Tanjiro now is, earn 200k yen, or five thousand dolllars. The Tsuchinoe, the sixth rank that Genya and Zenitsu now belong to, would in turn earn 120k Yen, or three thousand dollars. Pretty good money, though Demon Slaying is not an easy job.**

**What else...besides the spar with Giyu, which though short, felt meaningful enough that way...well, this chapter was fun in exploring some sides of characters I couldn't yet. Shinobu talking to Tanjiro about her sister like in Canon, Genya with the Buddhist chants he learned from Gyomei (which I totally didn't forget when I had his fight) and Zenitsu's uncanny ability with instruments. That shamisen might actually have a bit of importance later on too, it didn't come out of nowhere...also, speaking of Zenitsu, one thing that seriously crossed my mind while writting this chapter was to set up a pairing between himself and Aoi. From my experience people usually ship him with Nezuko and her with Inosuke, but the former is kind of hard given Nezuko's place right now and the former never really made sense for me besides their hair colors matching. But yeah, just throwing out a thought, in any case I do believe blondie deserves to be with someone considering all the shit I'll put him through. Ah, well.**

**Next chapter, I hope to get to cover the entirety of Tanjiro's training in the Butterfly Mansion, assuming I don't overestimate the word length of that. ****All that said, my usual thanks to ****DownwardDive...who advised me to put in a minor reference to something in this chapter and see if someone could guess it. More specifically though, it's a reference to a videogame. Consider it an easter egg for whoever finds it. I'm half-doubting someone will find it though. Its definitely not obscure, but its also not the most famous quote.**

**So, I know a longer Author's note in a shorter chapter is not much of a compensation...but I did have quite a bit to say here. So onto the reviews.**

_sebku ssj3: __Esta historia es bellísima_

**Yes, gracias.**

_L chapter: __Keep working bro, your story is amazing_

**Thanks, will do.**

_LasterBitz: Wow, I didn't anticipate many of the things that happened in this chapter and I'm surprised, it gets more and more interesting._

**Hope there were some you didn't anticipate in this one either.**

_Mukuro1796L Well a little bonding time always is good, I expect the sparring match between Tanjiro and Giyu to get a little intense, poor Tanjiro I suppose no matter what_ _universe, he doesn't have to much time to relax right? I read you in the next chapter._

**He might actually have some time to relax now, but I'm gonna have him spend it mostly training. It also kind of counts as bonding time with the other members of the Five Senses lurking around though, so yeah.**

Somnolent Sushi Roll:Yes don't join them. Let them feel ashamed of themselves. *insert evil laugh*

But seriously, I like this chapter. I like how he rejected the offer. It's like despite being very forgiving, he can also hold grudges. I mean, it's not like he's gonna go against them or anything, just that he prefers not to be included in the ranks of the one being responsible for murdering his remaining family member. (Be ashamed of yourself Giyu, you 'killed' best girl)

Thanks for updating.

**Well, it wasn't even about that since he didn't know Giyu was a Pillar at the time, but that fact does make things a bit more difficult as you yourself pointed out. Anyway, yeah, Tanjiro is still quite kind in his own way. Even though he is not the same person as his canon self anymore, they had the same starting point, so some things are bound to remain regardless. **

_Guest chapter 13 . Feb 5_

_AAAAAAAAAAAA GIYUUUUUUU_

**Indeed, Tomioka. He's in this chapter.**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: __I don't really mind it was a simple mistake :)._

_Well chapter was cool though I am a little sad that Tanjiro won't become pillar after all. But well if that's your decision as an author then I will accept it. Thought I still hold some hope about pillar thing :)._

_Thought if I have an issue with something then it would be the fact that Giyuu remembers Tanjiro. After all in canon he didn't recognize him immediately. And canon was deffinetly the bigger issue than in your story. After all canon Giyuu did something unthinkable for demon slayer and let demon life and there is even a issue with his seppuku if Nezuko will kill anyone. Here he just simply did a job that made him feel slightly bad, but it isn't a reason that would made his memory better. Well maybe you want to resolve those issues earlier and Giyuu bad memory would make it a little hard for that to happen I guess. Kind of imagined that Tenjiro would really hate Giyuu and pretend he doesn't exist and Giyuu would be like 'Have I met this kid before?'_  
_Well but that's just my imagination._

_And yeah about those blood battles. Well we know nothing about those but if you want some ideas then you can take this. I thought that maybe the battle last as long as a demon loses a head. It's their lifeline after all but if demons will cut, crush etc. other demon neck they still can't kill each other._

_It was a great chapter yet again, good luck with the next one!_

**Yeah...thanks again for pointing out the thing with Giyu, you were 100% right in your criticism. **

**Anyway, Blood Battles are an interesting aspect to elaborate on this story, especially when you add to it the idea that you don't need to have demons kill each other in it. After all, I only have a limited number of Moons to match up against the Pillars or the Five Senses. In the former's case, that itself is limited by Upper Moons if I want a meaningful fight. Honestly, having Demon Moons killing each other would be a waste...but if they don't, then that changes things a lot. **

_DriftingPhoenix: Oof, Shinobu is remembering that her sister, Kanae felt the same way as Tanjiro. Deep inside, he is still very kind._

**I'm glad someone caught onto that, even if I went to the trouble of reclarifying it this chapter.**

bp136714: Of course you leave it on a cliffhanger! Sometimes, I think many writers are demons & their arts either make them better writers. Or force them to cliff hang at the most aggravating yet satisfying spots.

**Cliffhangers are good. They make sure you guys come in for another fill, after all.**

_Ztassassin555:Great chapter_  
_Man the last chapter was fire but I noticed something, tanjirou father must be op because he even learned the thirteenth form and see through world ._  
_Also just an opinion, it will be nice if tanjirou can surpass yorochii because the student can surpass the master the master . Also it will be awesome if see through world can be combined with the hand of god technique from sasaki kojiro fight against poseidon in records of ragnarock if you have not read it yet I recommend it very much ._  
_Also nice cause of why tanjirou can't become a pillar , it showa us even after everything he is still kind ._

**Records of Ragnarok is an amazing manga, I've been keeping up with it as well. Sasaki Kojiro is honestly real life Yoriichi, except he loses more. Still, I did get very pumped up reading through his fight with Poseidon, I am sure I'll take a thing or two from that character in specific to add to this story.**

_Arkham Knight:So Giyu finally reappears. Much tension for next chapter. Wonder how Giyu will react when he realizes what Tanjiro and Nezuko became. Great chapter._

**Well, you got Tanjiro, with Nezuko though we'll all have to wait. **

**Anyway, that's it for Reviews today. I've recently reached two hundred followers in this story, and we're still growing. I hope to reach the same number with Favorites some time soon, so if you haven't clicked those buttons, please do. If you have though, then the only way I can know you enjoyed this is through a review, which I'll reply in the next chapter in the same fashion as I always do. **

**As per usual, Sky signing out.**


	15. Forescent Training

The following morning, Zenitsu would groan and turn around in his futon, but be unable to fall asleep due to his acute hearing catching a faint, strained muttering, "…four hundred and sixty-two…four hundred and sixty-three…four hundred and sixty-four…" And so on. He blinked slightly, sitting up before looking to his side and confirming his suspicions as the futon beside him was empty. Groaning and getting up himself then he'd walk up to the door leading out to the courtyard garden and slide it open. Unsurprisingly enough, he'd be met with Tanjiro outside, only wearing the pants they'd been given with his discarded shirt to the side, too busy with his one-handed push-ups to even notice Zenitsu there.

The blond boy stood there, staring on blankly as his friend kept muttering those ridiculously high numbers, sweat pouring all over his bare torso as he strained himself further with every push-up. Finally, as he reached the four hundred and seventies, Zenitsu finally decided to break the silence and make his presence known, "…what are you doing?"

Tanjiro suddenly stopped mid push-up, blinking and glancing off to the side at the bystanding Zenitsu, "…oh, morning Zenitsu." He greeted him offhandedly, "I woke up before everyone else, and so I decided to get an early start on my training."

"…you mean doing hundreds of one-handed push-ups?" He asked incredulously, "You can't be serious, right…?"

"Oh, that? No, of course not." Tanjiro said, momentarily reliving Zenitsu, "That was just the warm-up."

Just like that though, his relief was gone and replaced by an ugly look of disbelief, "You're messing with me, right? THAT'S your warm-up?"

"Uh…no. Normally, I'd do a thousand normal push-ups, but since I don't wanna strain my left arm, I decided to do five hundred one-handed ones instead." He admitted, pushing himself back into a sitting position then, "But I guess four hundred and seventy-two will do. After all, I was waiting for you to really start my training."

"Ah…that's just great…" Zenitsu said, his calm smile betrayed by the desperate tears falling from his eyes, "…I'm dead meat…"

"Hey, don't worry!" Tanjiro told him reassuringly then, putting back on the plain grey button shirt he along the two other demon slayers had been given to use alongside a pair of loose trousers while they were there. "I just need your help for this, but I'll be doing the actual tough part. Promise."

This seems to calm down the boy somewhat, "Okay…if you say so," He agreed hesitantly, "Still…what did you have in mind?"

Tanjiro opened his mouth to reply, but before he could even do so, he was interrupted by his name being called out by a small voice, "Tanjiro!" They would both turn to see the three little girls who worked under Aoi in the mansion: Sumi, Kiyo and Naho, all three of which they'd met the previous day. Most impressively though, the three of them were together carrying the full weight of a barrel filled to the brim with wooden practice swords, "We did as you asked us to and found every bokken lying around the mansion that isn't broken!"

Zenitsu only stared at that in a mixture of shock and confusion, and turned to look at the smiling Tanjiro , "That's great, girls! Thanks a lot!" He then motioned over to a corner, "You can leave them all at the corner over there." With that said, he turned back to a nervous Zenitsu, "So, you ready?"

He swallowed drily, wondering exactly what Tanjiro had in mind.

* * *

"Uh…Tanjiro, are you sure about this?" Zenitsu asked as he held one of the bokken drawn from the barrel, sounding just as unsure as he had been since before Tanjiro explained his idea to him, but not about his own safety anymore.

"I am, just trust me." Tanjiro replied as he covered his eyes with a blindfold, tying it over them around the back of his head. "This is exactly the kind of training I need."

Back against Lower Moon Six, Tanjiro recalled that the only reason he was able to survive at all was the sudden awakening of his ability to sense the smell of an attack, but having just discovered the ability, it was still wildly unreliable. He'd been able to use it again against Giyu when pressed into a corner, but there it was only enough to keep the Pillar at bay and avoid getting hit, same as with Kamanue. If he wanted to get truly stronger, this new ability was the first thing to work on now. So, just like when he first felt it against Kamanue, he decided that the best manner to do this would be to discard his sense of sight in order to rely fully on his sense of scent and get a real grip of using that smell to his advantage.

"I mean…you explained to me how this worked already, the whole thing with being able to smell an opponent's attack in some kind of foresight with your nose…or forescent, maybe." Zenitsu shook his head, "Look, the point is, are you really sure I should be swinging a sword like this at you when you're still injured?"

"First off, that's a dumb name…though not inaccurate." The now blinded Tanjiro admitted, feeling around with his hand to reach for a bokken from the nearby barrel full of them, "And second, it'll be fine. Just make sure you don't hit me in the bad arm. You can even aim for the head if you want," He knocked slightly against his solid temple, "not like it'll hurt much."

"Okay…just don't say I didn't warn you," Zenitsu told him, breathing in as he raised his bokken, which the blindfolded Tanjiro did much of the same, except wielding it with a single-handed grip due to his bad arm

One of the three girls who were all anxiously watching them would hesitantly let out a cry of "Begin!" And though Tanjiro couldn't see which of them did, he still remained with his guard up, waiting for Zenitsu to make his move. Move he would, and a second later he followed his sense of smell and raised his blade to block his opponent's own once he closed the distance. Zenitsu threw another vertical swing that he managed to predict and dodge, before swinging his own bokken at where he perceived his opponent to be, only for his own blow to miss entirely, followed by another attack coming from his left. Though he tried to dodge it, he was unable to duck in time and was struck across the head, thus being knocked down to the ground as the bystanding little girls all gasped in shock

"Uh…you okay there, Tanjiro?" Zenitsu asked, stuck in place after possibly giving his friend a concussion.

Tanjiro took a moment to sit back up, before dragging the blindfold up enough where he could see through an eye, allowing him to look up at Zenitsu, "Yeah, I'm fine." He said, "Still, I'm impressed, Zenitsu. Your attacks were really fast back there. I thought I might last longer against you, but I guess never did see you fight before."

Zenitsu would freeze for a moment before blushing, rubbing the back of his head bashfully, "Oh, you don't have to flatter me now, ya jerk! But I guess it is kind of amazing, huh…?"

Tanjiro opened a small smile seeing his friend like that, but quickly pulled down his blindfold over his eyes and got back up, "Alright, let's go at it again."

Zenitsu's mood shifted once again as he looked at his fellow Demon Slayer somewhat hesitantly, "You sure? Maybe you wanna rest a bit before having another go…?"

"C'mon, I told you I'm good. Let's go again." Tanjiro insisted, raising his blade before him.

Zenitsu sighed, but raised his bokken too, "Don't say I didn't warn you…"

The following sparring sessions wouldn't go too differently. Tanjiro's record was nine blows evaded total, but every time Zenitsu would eventually get a blow on him and knock him back down. The seventh time this happened, the blindfolded swordsman would groan, but fail to say anything or even get the chance to rise to his feet when a female voice suddenly cried out, "What the hell do you two think you're doing?!"

Tanjiro would pull up his blindfold again, and catch sight of Aoi in time to see her drop a laundry basket before she started striding towards them with an irritated look on her face, "You two should be inside resting, not hitting each other with wooden swords! How are you ever gonna heal if you keep hurting yourself even further like this?!"

Seeing Aoi approaching, Zenitsu's demeanor would change yet again, and just like that, he was all smiles, "Hey, Aoi! Beautiful morning, don't you think? Just like you…"

The girl looked away in a mix of fluster and annoyance as she walked right past Zenitsu, her gaze settling on Tanjiro before pointing at him accusingly, "You! I know blondie here is aloof, but I expected you to at least be a bit more responsible than that!"

"Hey…sorry, we didn't mean to make you worry." Tanjiro apologized in an attempt to calm the girl down as he go back up.

"It's not about worrying!" Aoi exclaimed, though she still seemed a bit flustered with that implication, "You two are Demon Slayers, you have a duty to return to the battlefield and keep on fighting!"

"You're right, but…last time, I was very nearly killed fighting a strong demon. I can't just go back out there like I am now and risk running across an even stronger demon." Tanjiro argued, "I know about my own duties, but I can't go through with those if I don't get any stronger."

That argument seemed to have Aoi pause in her scolding as she took into consideration what Tanjiro was saying. "Well…I guess so, but you still shouldn't push yourself like that while you're recovering. What do you even hope to achieve by blindfolding yourself and having him beat you up?" She inquired while motioning at Zenitsu.

"Oh, he wants to master his Forescent!" Zenitsu explained simply.

Aoi blinked then, "What's 'Forescent'?"

"That's not what it's called…" Tanjiro muttered, only to be ignored as Zenitsu was already halfway through explaining their training and what they hoped to achieve through it.

"I see…so you can actually predict a coming attack just from smell alone? I guess that explains the blindfold…" She said, turning to Tanjiro. "…but still, aren't you worried you'll get hurt?"

"Like I said, it's fine. Zenitsu mostly hit me in the head, and it'd take more than a bokken to bruise it." He told her with a shrug.

"…even then, to train yourself properly, you have to start low and make your way up, right?" Aoi asked him then.

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow at the question, "Uh…I guess so…"

"…in that case, maybe you should start with something easier." She noted before, much to the boys' surprise, reaching out to the barrel of swords and taking out a bokken to herself, "I'm not a strong fighter…I barely managed to survive my Final Selection…in fact, that's why I work here in the mansion helping actual Demon Slayers heal instead." Aoi explained, staring somewhat morosely at the bokken for a moment before narrowing her eyes, "I'm probably nowhere near as good as Zenitsu, but if you can beat me with that blindfold on, I'll be more confident knowing you can train like this without getting hurt."

When first seeing the angry girl striding towards them so intent on stopping their training, Tanjiro really never thought she'd end up offering to beat hit him up in Zenitsu's steed so quickly. Then again, he really couldn't argue with her logic, so instead, he only chuckled slightly to break his moment of surprise before saying, "Alright, that's fair enough." He pulled down his blindfold over his eyes and raised the blade, "Don't be afraid to hold back on me, Aoi."

"I promise I won't." She responded while raising her own blade, and a moment later moving at him. As she did, Tanjiro would begin defending himself by following his smell and blocking her swings and slashes while slowly falling back. Right away, he was managing to do far better against her than with Zenitsu, and it wasn't just because she was less skilled, but rather because he recognized her style somehow. It took a few blocks and dodges to figure it out properly, but once he began panting a proper picture of her swordsmanship, he would realize where from. Despite being infinitely less polished, the way she moved and attacked was quite similar to how Giyu had during their spar.

Even then, Tanjiro would only be able to keep at it for so long before his sense of smell failed him and he was unable to block a swing that hit his side. The blow in itself wasn't that hard, but still had him stumbling back slightly, "...are you alright?" Aoi asked, and though she tried hiding it, Tanjiro could smell the slight worry she was feeling.

"Yeah, I'm good," He reassured her, pulling up his blindfold over an eye, "That style though..is that the Breath of Water you're using?"

"...yes." She replied somewhat shamefully, "I never had the skill needed to learn the Breath of Flower like Kanao did, so I ended up settling for its simplified parent style."

"You shouldn't put it like that. It might be simpler, but it's still a great style." He insisted, "The way you attack is so fluid and sudden, it really does remind me of a river flowing. I imagine it's something I might have learned myself if I didn't have my Breath of the Sun."

Despite his words of encouragement, Aoi still didn't seem very convinced, "Even then, I am too weak to make full use of the style. Even after practicing for years, the best I could ever do was learning the first five forms...I really tried my best, but I was no good at being a Demon Slayer."

"...you shouldn't be so hard on yourself." The nearby Zenitsu interjected while staring down while the other two turned to look at him, "Even though you weren't strong as a Demon Slayer, you were able to acknowledge that and managed to learn how to be a medic in order to heal others and keep helping the Corps. I think that's actually pretty amazing."

Aoi could only stare at the blond boy gapingly upon hearing his short speech, but that shock was broken when he turned to glance at her and she quickly looked away somewhat embarrassedly, "Y-yeah...I guess you're not completely wrong..."

"_Huh...who woulda guessed? For all his bad luck with girls, Zenitsu only manages to make an impact on one during the one time he's not trying._" Tanjiro noted to himself amusedly before pulling back down his blindfold, "Well, anyway, let's keep this thing going then, shall we?"

Aoi hesitated but would glance briefly at Zenitsu while he wasn't paying attention before raising her blade with determination stamped in her face, "Yes…let's continue."

The spar between Tanjiro and Aoi would continue, with the blindfolded boy struggling all the while to block and evade his opponent's various attacks. As time passed, he would be struck several times but would persevere and keep going, each blow allowing him to get a better read of his opponent's style and how to better counter it, allowing him to slowly but surely begin building a counterattack. It would take a good while, but after being hit a couple more times, Tanjiro would block her bokken with his own before, with a quick pull to the side, he'd manage to disarm her of the practice sword.

As the bokken bounced off the ground before coming to a stop, Aoi would be left panting while watching her own disarmed weapon, "I guess that means you've managed to win after all…congratulations, Tanjiro. As promised, I won't be nagging you guys about this anymore."

Tanjiro though would pull up his blindfold, and stare himself at the bokken on the ground for a moment, before turning over to Aoi. Despite his earned victory, his expression made it clear he wasn't all that satisfied about it, "Well, it wasn't exactly fair though, was it?"

Aoi blinked then, not sure what he meant, "Uh…wasn't it?"

"Of course not. Look at yourself." Tanjiro motioned towards her, sweating all over and panting roughly, "I had to tire you down in order to beat you. If you were still fresh, that blow wouldn't have been enough to properly disarm you."

"You managed to beat me though, and a deal is a deal." She insisted, "Unless you want me to continue pestering you guys about your reckless training."

"Well…obviously not, but.." He paused for a second, before continuing, "I was hoping that you'd continue practicing with us. At least until I can beat you at your best."

Aoi was surprised at that statement, not quite sure how to respond to it, "Are…are you sure? I can't promise training with me will be as effective as training with someone like Zenitsu…"

Tanjiro shook his head, "It's not about who's stronger, though." He insisted, "I want to spar against as many different styles as possible, to make sure I'm prepared to react to anything a demon might throw at me. Training with you would go a long way in helping me achieve that."

"Yeah! Besides, it's not like we'd mind your company around, Aoi..." Zenitsu added bashfully.

"...alright, I'll keep on helping you train." She agreed then with a small smile, "Besides, I guess it's not too bad an idea to keep my sword skills up to date..."

Tanjiro also opened a small smile then, "That's great to hear, Aoi. Still, you should get some rest after all that fighting."

She nodded, "Yeah, you're right." Aoi agreed, and would begin walking away when she paused for a moment and turned to look at him, "...thank you, Tanjiro. I feel like I kind of needed this." She told him, before briefly turning to his blond friend, "You too, Zenitsu."

With that, she would walk off and soon disappear along the corner, leaving the two boys by themselves. As soon as she was gone though, Zenitsu turned to Tanjiro and asked, "Hey, you think I have a shot?"

He stared back at the blond boy silently for a moment before shrugging, "...actually...yeah, sure. She seems to dislike you a lot less than I thought."

Zenitsu turned to look at him in surprise, "Really? I do?" He then paused for another moment, "...wait, what do you mean by Aoi disliking me?"

Tanjiro would pause for a moment, struggling to find a way to answer that without getting Zenitsu to start moping, but had his attention taken away as the mansion's door leading to the garden slid open as Genya finally emerged from the room, "Morning..." He yawned, "Looks like I really overslept, huh? Shouldn't have stayed up so late yesterday..."

"Hey, Genya! Wanna help me train?" Tanjiro asked quickly while raising his bokken, silently relieved at not having to continue the conversation with Zenitsu.

"Uh...sure, I guess." Genya shrugged as he walked up to the two boys.

From there on, Tanjiro would continue his training in the Butterfly Mansion, quickly creating a routine. While he spent a great deal of time meditating or working out to keep his body in shape, he adamantly continued blindly sparring against Zenitsu, Genya and occasionally Aoi for several hours a day. In time, the smell of an attack would become clearer to him, and he'd be able to project a faint outline of his opponent's stance as they moved to attack him. He'd be able to last a good while defending himself blindly, and every so often get a win over one of them. With Aoi, it happened fairly frequently, though he'd managed to gain a few victories over both Genya and Zenitsu as they kept practicing.

Not only that but from constantly sparring against them, he'd begin to understand the respective styles of fighting they used much. Aoi obviously had her Breath of Water, which he'd come to recognize as a fluid and versatile style that flowed like a river. Though it seemed leaned towards a more defensive way of fighting, its attack prowess was nonetheless powerful and effective with a lot of focus on careful footwork. Out of all of them, it was the style he'd come to recognize the best, if only due to having his spar against Giyu to cross-reference Aoi's movements.

Zenitsu though fought in a very different manner. He fought fast, almost as if aiming to end a fight in the shortest of time possible, rarely blocking and mostly dodging to keep his defense. His blows were sudden and calculated, but the more he drew out their spars, the greater his chances of triumphing over Zenitsu ultimately seemed. Still, it took him a while to be able to draw their bout out for too long from just how hard his blows were to dodge. He'd been told by the boy that the name of the style he used was the Breath of Thunder, and it made perfect sense to Tanjiro as soon as he heard that, given that the slash of his sword alone was quick and precise alone to resemble lightning in his mind.

Then, there was Genya. Unlike the other two, Genya did not use a Breath, and thus his skills with a sword were rather basic. He made up for it however with his sheer strength and tenacity, his lack of a definite style to read somehow making him the least predictable of the three. He seemed however less afraid than them of getting hit, by Tanjiro's bokken, which ended up getting him more technical defeats than Zenitsu.

It was on the morning of the fifth day of their stay in the Butterfly Mansion however that things began changing slightly. Tanjiro was sitting beside Zenitsu on the garden while Genya sat cross-legged beneath the shade of a tree in a meditative position, muttering his way through his Buddhist mantras while the other two Demon Slayers contemplated the marks engraved in their hands representing their respective ranks.

Tanjiro, due to leaving early in the ending ceremony of the Final Selection, hadn't been subjected to the wisteria carving that all the passers did, and thus had just undergone it. Wisteria carving was a technique traditional to the Demon Slayers which consisted of tattooing into the back of their hands the rank they held in the Corps, something which only showed up with they clenched their fists tightly but otherwise remained invisible.

Currently, Tanjiro was staring at the Kinoe mark ingrained in his hand, while Zenitsu was doing much of the same with his Tsuchinoe mark. "I wonder how they make it so it only appears when you clench your hand into a fist..." Zenitsu mused.

"Shinobu said something about the ink being a special kind made from wisteria flowers, which only appears when your muscles expand." Tanjiro explained briefly, "I really couldn't tell you the specifics of why it does that though..."

"If nothing else, it's a neat trick." Zenitsu admitted as he unclenched his fist and caused the mark to disappear, getting back up, "You ready to continue with the training?"

Tanjiro smiled, opening his hand and causing his mark to disappear as well, "Yeah, sure." He said, getting back up himself. While he had been working hard at his training, Zenitsu had surprisingly enough tried his best in keeping up with his pace. While he couldn't do as many push-ups or sit-ups, nor meditate without falling asleep, he was still trying, and Tanjiro could see by their spars that it'd began to make a difference for him.

The two of them would walk up to the barrel full of bokken nearby, but as they drew a wooden sword each and Tanjiro prepared to blindfold himself again, he would pause as he noticed someone walking around a corner and coming into view. "Hey, Kanao!" He called out with a small smile, waving at the Tsuguko, "Glad to see you're back."

Kanao only nodded, still wearing the same placid smile as always. She'd left very shortly after they arrived at the mansion in a mission so, with her returning, this was the first time Tanjiro had seen her since arriving from Kaigara, "Are you two training?" She inquired, taking note of the bokken and the blindfold in his hand.

"Yeah, he's practicing his Forescent." Zenitsu told her, at which Tanjiro rolled his eyes, but had by then given up on correcting him, "Basically, we're sparring with Tanjiro blindfolded to see if he can smell my attacks coming."

"...I see." Kanao noted briefly, "I hope your training brings results." She would then start walking off, but Tanjiro would pause for a moment before speaking out.

"Wait," He called to her, "don't you wanna help me train, Kanao?"

She stopped then for a moment, before fishing out her coin from a pocket, "Hm...let's see..." Kanao then flipped the coin high into the air, watching it closely. Tanjiro did much of the same but also frowned displeasedly for a moment, and just as the coin started falling and the girl stretched out her open hand to catch it, he would move in a blur, appearing in front of her and snatching the coin from the air right as sit was about to fall in her hand, much to Kanao's surprise.

"I get it that you're indifferent in general, but if you keep relying on this coin, that'll never change." Tanjiro told her almost scoldingly, "Why don't you try and make a decision yourself, for once?"

"...I was gonna say yes." She admitted, "After all, the coin landed heads."

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow but opened his hand and looked at the coin in his palm to see that she was indeed right, "How did you...?" He shook his head, "Okay...maybe that was not the right choice to have you make. Let's take this from a different angle. How about we make a bet?"

Kanao raised an eyebrow, "A bet?"

"Yep, a simple bet." He reiterated, stepping back as he flipped his bokken downward and stabbed it into the ground, "Straight out spar, no blindfold. If I win, you gotta start making decisions by yourself more often. If you win, you can keep using your coin and do with it as you want."

"...okay. I'll take your bet." Kanao agreed, wrapping a hand around the wooden sword, though even then she seemed hesitant. Tanjiro guessed she only said as much because the coin landed on heads beforehand anyway as if she was obliged to follow up on its decision for her. Just another reason why he needed to help her get rid of this coin flipping habit.

He would then turned to his blond-haired friend, "Zenitsu, do you mind?" He asked, motioning to the boy's bokken.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." He responded, tossing over his own bokken to Tanjiro, "Guess I'll step back and wait for my turn then."

Tanjiro nodded in thanks as he grabbed the sword with his good hand, while Kanao slowly raised her own blade. He raised his bad arm and flicked the coin upwards with the silent understanding that it hitting the ground would signify the start of the spar. There was a moment of tension as it sailed through the air until it hit the ground and both Tsuguko and Kinoe moved in at one another.

Their bokken clashed in a loud wooden clank, locking blades for a moment as Kanao moved past him quickly before breaking their lock and trying to slash for Tanjiro's legs as she moved behind him. Tanjiro however, spun around already swinging down low to counter his opponent's blow, before switching to a reverse grip and raising it again to block the upward swing that followed. He switched his grip again in a moment's notice after pushing her blade aside, bringing down his bokken, which she narrowly avoided by moving to the side and swung again, which he replied to in kind.

The two of them underwent a quick back and forth switching between attack and defense before he managed to take control of the battle and went for the offense. Kanao, however, proved to have a tight defense, as expected seeing as, like Aoi told him, her style was derived from the Breath of Water, which in itself was very defense-oriented. Tanjiro, however, struck at her guard hard in order to find an opening, eventually taking a double-handed grip on his sword and bringing it down full force. Though Kanao managed to block it, the strength behind it was enough to push her back. But despite Tanjiro trying to take the moment she was falling to his advantage and attack, she managed to plant a hand on the ground and flip herself back up to a kneeling position while avoiding the blow. When he tried for another low strike, she blocked it, and rose while bringing her blade up along the edge of his and aiming for a swing at his head, one Tanjiro managed to didge mostly due to smelling the attack coming and lean back his head just enough to where the blade would barely miss.

Seeing her chance, Kanao moved in to cease it, pressing him back with quick and precise strikes that kept his sword busy in blocking them. The way she attacked so delicately and carefully yet with unmistakable skill, invoked in Tanjiro the image of a rose and its thorns, seemingly just pretty and easily trimmed, but ready to draw blood from anyone who thought they could easily pluck it. As he backed up, he would notice Kanao glancing briefly at the nearby step leading into the house, and used that to impulse herself in jumping over Tanjiro, flipping her body midair and using her spinning to slash at his head, and when he backed up to evade it, she'd use the momentum still in her landing to bring her blade upwards to strike at him, only for her bokken to be intercepted with his own, their eyes locking for a moment before Tanjiro pushed her blade aside and resumed a pressing offensive against Kanao.

He didn't hold back, intent on not giving her the chance to regain the offensive, pressing his foe further back while adding twirls and feints to his strikes as to make them more unpredictable. Even with her guard intercepting his blows and her dodging occasionally, both could tell Kanao was losing ground quickly, and if she didn't make a quick comeback and regained control of the battle, it was clear that her guard alone wouldn't keep him from getting a blow in for much longer. She took her chance when Tanjiro thrust his bokken at her and she deflected his blade while moving to his side, linking an arm around his own and planting her back against his to roll over to the other side while dragging the arm she was holding onto in order to compromise his balance or disarm him. And while he did realize what was happening and managed to take control over his balance by unliking his arm from hers, it still caused him to drop his bokken, which gave Kanao the chance she'd been waiting for, swinging upwards for his head the moment she landed. She couldn't, however, have expected her blade to be blocked by the narrowly rising hilt of Tanjiro's bokken as he reclaimed the falling blade midair with the hand in his bad arm, using it to intercept his opponent's blow on one end, while the other found itself lightly pressed against the side of her neck, signaling his victory.

"Just because I have a bad arm doesn't mean I can't use it at all." He told her stepping back as he moved the wooden sword away from her neck, "I guess that means I win our bet, huh? Which means from now on you've got to start making decisions of you're own more often."

"...yes, I suppose so." Kanao admitted, staring down somewhat troubled, but was shaken out of it when she noticed Tanjiro walking up to the coin he'd flicked at the beginning of their match.

"Here, take this." He told her, using the very tip of his blade to flick the coin upwards and towards her direction, which allowed Kanao to catch it.

As she did so, the girl would open her hand and stare at the coin in her palm, before turning back up to Tanjiro, "If you want me to make more decisions by myself, why did you give back my coin?"

"Well, it is yours. This whole betting thing...it's ultimately more of a fancy suggestion than anything." He admitted, "I can't stop you from being who you are, but it's not healthy to let a coin decide everything for you. Besides, it's not like you couldn't have just gotten another coin just like that one if you really wanted to."

"I...see..." she murmured, still staring down at the coin on her palm.

"That said...the earlier offer is still open," Tanjiro told her, "I'd appreciate you helping me with my training. You're really strong, Kanao. I'm sure that, with your help, I'd be able to push myself much further than I would otherwise."

Kanao paused then and stared up at him somewhat unsurely. After a moment, she looked back down at the coin in her palm and pursed her lips, before closing her fingers into a fist around it and turning back to Tanjiro, "...yes. I would like to help you train, Tanjiro." She decided, pocketing the coin away.

Tanjiro smiled at her decision and reached out for the blindfold he'd left with the barrel, quickly putting it back on, "Alright, whenever you're ready."

Kanao nodded, "I'm ready."

With that, Tanjiro would raise his bokken, and she would move in at him. His spar with her actually proved useful in reacting to her style while blind, and he'd get a much better read on the smell of her techniques as he defended himself from her attacks. As he did so, however, he would overhear nearby small talk from Zenitsu, who was leaning by the tree under which Genya still sat meditatively under, "You know...I think those two would make a cute couple..." He admitted, met by Genya with only a grunt. That, though, was enough to break Tanjiro's concentration almost immediately, which ended with him getting smacked across the face with one of Kanao's bokken swings.

Kanao showed some worry towards him, but Tanjiro reassured her he was okay and soon enough they resumed with their sparring. Her joining the training had added another level of difficulty for Tanjiro, as she was a far more skilled fighter than either Zenitsu or Genya had proved to be, and pushed Tanjiro's abilities to predict attacks by scent even further. As time went by, he would start doing better against Zenitsu and Genya as a result, and even being able to provide a pretty fair fight against Aoi despite his blindfold. By the seventh day of their stay, however, Genya would be discharged as his burns had mostly healed, and he would leave the Butterfly Mansion for a mission, though with the promise to return there once he was done.

Despite the loss of a sparring partner, Tanjiro would continue his training routine further, and things would again remain rather normal until their ninth day of stay. Tanjiro found himself finishing his lunch, offering a piece of bread to Shiro, his white messenger crow that happened to have landed on his arm. The crow would take the piece of bread, nodding in thanks to his master before flying off again. During his one month of solo demon-slaying, Shiro had been a great help as far as keeping him some company went, not that he wasn't used to being alone since he spent most of his time like that in his two years of training, most of his human interaction coming in the form of his nightly training with Yoriichi, but it was good to have someone around either way. Of course, that had changed lately...

With that in mind, he turned his gaze from the flying bird over to behind him, where Zenitsu and Kanao were undergoing an exercise proposed by the three little girls as a form of training. Some sort of game with cups, which the objective was splashing your opponent right in the face and not allowing them to pick up a cup of their own by placing your hand over it beforehand. Tanjiro hadn't really paid much attention to the game itself, as he passed on playing it due to the slight disadvantage his still-healing arm left him in. Still, as he watched the drenched Zenitsu trying to reach out for one of the numerous cups in the table, only for Kanao's hand to be placed on it first, following by her splashing in his face for the umpteenth time, he couldn't help but be grateful for the company he had there.

Sure, they were great for sparing against and helped him train, but even besides that, he'd really started to grow fond of their presence for the short time he was there. Aoi and Genya, despite seeming closed off at first, had both managed to open up and create an amicable relationship with him. Kanao, despite her usual placidness, had genuinely begun trying to make decisions on her own after joining his training, which was something he found honestly admirable given her previous mindset. And then, of course, there was Zenitsu. The boy who at first seemed cowardly and short-minded at first sight, but who Tanjiro saw something on and that proved not to be unfounded since he ended up coming back to help him at Kaigara. Despite the little time they had known each other, he'd come to view the blond boy as a genuine friend, and knew he could count on him to have his back again if it came to it.

"I can't believe I lost again..." Zenitsu muttered in his miserably drenched state.

"You're still too slow, Zenitsu." Kanao pointed out straightforwardly, "Instead of helping Tanjiro out with his Forescent training, you should be practicing your moves more."

Hearing that, Tanjiro could only lament he'd let that name catch on in the first place, but his line of thought would soon be interrupted when the three little girls, Naho, Sumi, and Kiyo, ran over from across the corner, all of them looking somewhat panicked, "Uh...Tanjiro.." Naho said, "Someone is here to see you..."

Tanjiro blinked, somewhat confused, and was about to ask who, when he suddenly heard a sound he didn't quite recognize, catching Zenitsu's attention as well, "Are those...wind chimes...?"

Sure enough, coming across the corner following the girls emerged a tall man wearing a sunflower patterned robe, wearing a large woven straw hat that covered his face with several wind chimes hanging off of it. He walked straight towards Tanjiro, with the little girls parting to let him passed, and soon enough stood above the boy, towering threateningly over him, "Are you Tanjiro Kamado...?" he inquired dramatically.

Tanjiro blinked, not sure if he should respond to that, but ultimately deciding there really was nothing else he could do at this point, "Uh...yeah, that's me. Why?"

Without another moment's hesitation, the man would suddenly grab Tanjiro by his shirt and raise him high up into the air, startling everyone present, but mainly Tanjiro as the face beneath the hat was exposed...only it was not a face. It was a mask, the kind you'd see at festivals, except his was really exaggerated, with red skin, big eyebrows and eyes, a wrinkled forehead and, perhaps weirdest of all, big puffy cheeks with a mouth that seemed to be blowing at something. "Where the hell have you been, you brat?! I've been running around looking for you desperately for over a whole freaking month!"

"Uh...wha-" Tanjiro couldn't even finish as the weird man suddenly tossed him violently to the side and sent him sprawling, shocking his fellow Demon Slayers even further.

"You think you're really funny, huh you little shit...?!" The man inquired, walking after the downed Tanjiro, "Leading me around like that...you think I don't have anything better to do?! Do you?!"

"...I'm not even sure who you are!" Tanjiro admitted rather cluelessly.

"..." The man stared at him for a moment, his expression unreadable due to the mask on his face, but the stench of sheer rage was already enough to leave Tanjiro on edge. Sure enough, he'd then pull out a knife from his robes and point it right at the boy, "I'mma kill you!"

"_...what._" Was all Tanjiro could think before he was rushed in by the weird man, who really seemed intent on stabbing him. He'd see Zenitsu and Kanao getting up to help him, but would raise a hand as if telling them he'd deal with it. After all, if this guy knew his name and was trying to stab him, there must be some kind of logical reason to all this...he quickly began dodging the stabs, which was fairly easy even if he hadn't been training his nose for this kind of thing. Still, he really didn't imagine his first life or death test of it after all his training would be like this. "Mister, I really don't know who you are..." He told the man while using his arm to deflect one of his stabs, "but maybe if you tell me why you're so mad at me we can figure out a way to fix this maybe...?"

"You know damn well why I'm here!" The masked man angrily exclaimed, brandishing his knife dramatically, "I was supposed to have delivered you the sword I forged ages ago, but every time I tried following you, you kept moving onto the next town, the next mission, never settling down...! How am I even supposed to track you down, you ungrateful brat?!" He asked while stabbing at Tanjiro with his knife and once again failing to land a blow.

"_...ah, so that's what this is all about!_" The boy finally realized while evading another swing of the man's knife, "So...are you here to deliver my sword then?"

"Sure! I'll leave it by your grave once I'm done with you!" The swordsmith declared while continuing to...well, I think you all get it by now.

"Uh...isn't there a way we can rectify this?" Tanjiro pleaded while grabbing the man's arm mid-stab, holding the knife back from reaching him, "I...just received my first payment after my promotion..." He told the masked swordsmith while still trying to hold the man back from stabbing him. "Maybe,...I can give you a hefty tip for your troubles? How does twenty thousand yen sound?"

The man suddenly froze on his place, his struggle to try and stab Tanjiro stopping as he turned to stare straight at the boy, somehow seeming very menacing even from behind that goofy-looking mask, "Thirty thousand." He insisted.

"Sure!" Tanjiro immediately agreed, "Just...please don't stab me."

With that settled, things returned to a state of semi-civility again, more so when Tanjiro paid the promised money to the swordsmith, and soon he'd find would find himself sat before the masked man with Zenitsu and Kanao at either side of him in a room attached to the garden, where the man would finally introduce himself as the famed swordsmith known as Hotaru Haganezuka, before delving down into a long-winded explanation about how the blade he created was made from Nichirin, a metal created with the mixture of scarlet crimson iron sand and scarlet crimson ore mined directly from the sunlight mountain where the sun reached all year long regardless of weather from how high above the clouds it was. He explained how they were one of the few methods known to kill demons and how due to newly forged blades changing colors according to the affinities of their user, they were also known as 'Color Changing Blades'.

Honestly, most of it was stuff Tanjiro already more or less knew, and neither Zenitsu nor Kanao seemed very interested in his long-winded explanations either, but none of them dared interrupt the masked swordsmith in fear he'd go back to his crazy, prone-to-stabbing-others self. "Seeing as this is a nearly forged blade, it should take within it the color you have an affinity for," Hotaru told him while putting down the long rectangular wooden box he'd been carrying around on the ground, opening it and pulling aside the white cloth wrapped around the sword before taking it out, a sheathed katana with a round guard, alongside black and red hilt wrapping. "For all the trouble you gave me, I at least hope to see an interesting color out of it. "

Tanjiro nodded slowly, and carefully took the blade from the swordsmith, quietly wrapping a hand around its hilt, expectation suddenly filling the room before he drew the blade and held it pointed upwards. For a moment, the nichirin remained a normal dull grey just like any normal blade, before a darker coloration began spreading from the blade's collar and quickly spreading out along its edge before eventually consuming it all the way up to the tip, leaving the previously grey blade the color of coal.

"It's black..." Zenitsu commented, watching the blade curiously.

"Boring..." Hotaru muttered out, "I was expecting a bright red blade, not dull old black..."

"Is a black blade that normal?" Tanjiro inquired to the swordsmith.

"Well, not really, but it really ain't that interesting a color either..." The masked man pouted.

Tanjiro sweatdropped slightly but chose to instead focus on his newly gifted weapon. He could tell, just from holding it alone, that this katana felt very different from the one Satoshi had gifted him. It felt like...his.

"Still...this is a very fine blade, mister Haganezuka." Tanjiro told him as he returned the black nichirin blade to its scabbard, "Thank you for forging and delivering it to me."

"...STILL?! The hell do you mean by 'still'?!" Hotaru screeched out irately as he suddenly lunged at Tanjiro again, grabbing the boy by the collar and beginning to shake him incessantly as Zenitsu and Kanao tried to get him to stop, "You trying to imply something, brat?! Huh?! HUH?!"

Though the blade was indeed a good one, Tanjiro at least wished it'd been made by a slightly less unbalanced swordsmith.

* * *

Far, far away from the Butterfly Estate, a young Demon Slayer made his way out of a cave, his two jagged blades dirtied in demon blood. As he stepped out into the sunlight again after his bout of demon-slaying inside the cave, he'd look up to the sky, the boar head he wore similarly to a mask staring with its blank eyes up into the sky for a moment before he suddenly mused out loud, "I wonder what happened to that Gonpachiro guy..." Inosuke Hashibira murmured to himself, recalling how he'd not only had his kill stolen back then but had also been knocked out by the same boy after their intense brawl had resulted in a technical tie. He never really gotten his payback from the one he declared to be his rival for that, after all. And so, true to a man who lived solely to his impulses, Inosuke's gaze turned back forward again, "I'm gonna go find him and kick his ass." He said, before just dashing off yet again.

**A/N: I'll admit straight away, this is not the most interesting chapter of the lot, but it is a necessary one. Since there aren't any demon fights or interesting twists, I tried to switch this up with a more comedic approach while doing some character building. Though I wanted to get through this whole training arc in one go, it proved to be way more stuff than I could actually fit into the chapter, and in particular, there is one more thing with Chihime that I wanna do that forced me to split these chapters. Either way, it's for the best, I don't like being rushed in this stuff.**

**So anyway, as you've all seen, this training has mostly to do with Tanjiro's ability to smell attacks. Forescent is the name I gave it, as a pun on the word foresight. It's not an ideal name, but I really gotta have a proper way to name this ability in order to write it in. Previously, I called it smelling the intent of one's attacks, but that in itself is incorrect, given that Canon Tanjiro learned this ability fighting against a robot with no free will or intent to attack. Rather, it seems he smells the attack in itself coming, however that works.**

**Aside from getting some training done for Tanjiro, and to a lesser extent Zenitsu, this chapter, as I said, is also about building some character. Tanjiro has no family anymore in this, and thus up until Kaigara was more so a lone wolf than anything, but now I can let him start befriending the other characters, which is the first step in having him close the gap left by his dead family in his life and replace that with the friends he's making. I think one interesting instance of that in this chapter is his interaction with Kanao, which is even more so a take on the coin scene than their first meeting, but compare this chapter to its canonical equivalent and you really start to see the differences in character from this Tanjiro to that one. **

**On another cool note, a reader by the username of Abyranss took up my kind of challenge to draw this story's Tanjiro, but went the extra mile and ended up drawing Chihime alongside it. Though only the latter is finished currently, the drawing in itself looks gorgeous, and I hope to leave it linked in my profile for all to see alongside any others who wish to have a go at this once it's finished. I also hope to use the Tanjiro half of the drawing as the cover pic for the ff dot net version of Branching Paths once it's finished. Shame Ao3 doesn't have something like that.**

**Speaking of cover pics, the current one with Tanjiro and Yoriichi is a fanart version of the canon cover found by dear DownwardDive, so as usual, I thank him for that...also, no one did guess what that easter egg was last week, did they? Real shame.**

**Moving on then...**

_Arkham Knight: The mirror fights of the siblings is well done. The power gap between them is interesting. Nezuko is far stronger than what her number implies. Poor Giyu it's finding out how much of a bad choice he did that day. This story can also be called "Giyu, you screw up.". Great chapter._

**Well, it wasn't really supposed to be mirrored, but it does prove an interesting point when you look at them both and use the Giyu vs Rui fight as reference. But yeah, Chihime is quite terrifying, as should a demon taught breathing techniques and trained with a sword should be. And...I think I made a similar comment regarding the story's name before. Either way, it's pretty on point, isn't it?**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: __Well meeting Giyu went as well as one could expect XD._

_I noticed that in this chapter you described Nazuko/Chihime as a lower moon six while few chapters back she was lower moon five._

_And well about this chapter one thing is quite confusing about the fact that Nezuko in fact is using a nichirin sword. Even upper one is not using a blade like that since his sword become a part of his body that can regenerate as well. Moreover I am interested where she got this since it had 'kill evil demons', then that means it belonged to pillar. _

_And yeah blood battles. I don't think it's something like demon moons killing each other cuz only Muzan can kill other demons, they are unable to kill each other after all, unless you go with Rui method and tie somebody while waiting for sun. Like they fight each other and one demon loses head so that's his defeat... _

_Well that's just throwing random ideas, of course. I can't wait for the moment when Tanjiro meets Nezuko again and what will he do after that. Now that Nezuko follows Muzan I don't think there is any doubt that she eaten humans. She could sleep too yes, but eating humans is demons primary method of gaining strength._

_it was great chapter!_

**As it probably tends to go when you meet the supposed killer of your sister.**

**Eh, that was a minor mistake. Not even my own proofreading can catch every one the first time around. Far less consequential than the Giyu thing, too.**

**I don't think its that big a spoiler to reveal where that sword came from, but Kokushibo throughout the centuries has killed numerous Pillars. A Headcannon I'll be adding to that though is that upon them falling, Koku would take their blades as a trophy of swords, leading to quite an impressive collection of swords. Chihime's blade is one of those, a katana belonging to a fallen Pillar.**

**And regarding Blood Battles...yeah, you'd think so. But then there's Akaza's threat to Kokushibo after the Upper Moon meeting, the whole "next time, I'll definitely kill you" thing.**

**Well, now that Nezuko's been brought back into the story, that does seem to be the big question, doesn't it? Well, that's what we'll be touching onto soon enough.**

**Thanks, I do hope to see your thoughts on this one as well.**

_Echonic: So Nezuko is stronger than Tanjiro? Does she even remember her human life?_

**If you think so...but that's not really the conclusion I wanted to lead to with that chapter. A good way to look at it is seeing Tanjiro sparring Giyu and Chihime confronting Rui and take into account how easily Giyu disposed of Rui to put them into comparison. And regarding the memory of her life as Nezuko...well, it's not completely gone, but right now it's buried quite deep into her subconscious.**

_Mukuro1796: Well that was a good spar, that show us that even of Tanjiro is stronger that in canon he still lacks of real combat experience, but nothing that time can't fix, nos I'm curious about what kind of training he would do. The Natagumo arc is pointing to get more than interesting I suppose that mark a turning point to the history I can't wait. Well I read you in the next chapter._

**Well, you got your answer regarding the training thing this chapter.**

_sebku ssj3: Te quedo muy bien hecho te felicito_

**I don't fully understand what you say, but I appreciate it regardless.**

_DEMONEZUKO: Nezuko still cares about family even as a demon. Poor Tanjiro, I hope he can reunite with Nezuko although it probably wouldn't end very well._

**As things stand, no it wouldn't. **

_DriftingPhoenix: Awww, it looks like Nezuko/Chihime still has a bit of humanity left in her. Perhaps she remembers her time as a human with her family?_

**Not fully, obviously, but it's not like the person she was before is fully gone either. **

_LegoMyEggo02: So I don't know if you want to, but I think I got a possible name for Mother Spider. Jorogumo. A Japanese yokai that transforms into a beautiful woman, its kanji means woman spider or entangling newlywed woman, and it can manipulate small fire breathing spiders. I don't know, I thought this could be a possible name._

**It's a good name, and I like the meaning behind him, but really for the minor role she plays in this story, I don't know if it's really needed. It'd be kind of like naming the Hand Demon, in a way. Because, yeah, sure, why not? But...at the same time, why?**

_bp136714: I have a feeling that Nezuko is at the very least close in power to upper moon six, & that is a scary thought at this point in the story._

**Well, Upper Moon level might be an overstatement. But one thing that is true is that a demon with breathing techniques is something truly terrifying from the perspective of a Demon Slayer.**

**All that said, I suppose we're done here. I've recently reached 200 Followers, and plan on keep growing, so if you guys could contribute to that it'd be quite cool. A Favorite too wouldn't be too bad. Of course though, once you've done both, the only thing left is to Review, and Review I insist you do. Nothing motivates me better than people telling me their opinions on something I wrote.**

**Anyhow, that's all for now. I can promise a more exciting chapter next week. Sky signing out.**


	16. The Senses Gather

It was the twelfth day of their stay in the Butterfly Mansion, and Zenitsu found himself sat at the steps outside the butterfly mansion, watching Tanjiro as he went through a series of katas with his new katana out in the garden. Despite the whole incident with the crazy wordsmith trying to stab him, once the man was gone, Tanjiro had seemed as excited with his sword as a child would be with a new toy and had ever since spent at least an hour a day just silently getting a better grasp of the blade by practicing by himself.

Personally, Zenitsu felt alleviated to see that, honestly. After all, it wasn't as if he could be much help to Tanjiro's Forescent training, not in his current condition. Even injured, the guy was ridiculous. Just trying to keep up with his workout routine had left him incapacitated. Of course, there were benefits to that fact, as evidenced by Aoi holding a small bag of ice over his arm, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up all the way to his shoulders. "Stay still!" She told him somewhat scoldingly, "I told you already, your muscles are swollen. We need to add a cold press to your arm to help them get better."

"Sorry…it's really cold though." Zenitsu apologized to her, though on the inside, he was swooning over having a pretty girl take care of him like that. Just like Tanjiro advised him to, he'd stopped constantly hitting on Aoi and showering her with compliments, and somehow that seemed to have really improved their relationship, to the point where she DIDN'T constantly ignore him. Turns out that not only was he crazy strong, but Tanjiro was also secretly a love guru of sorts. That at least explained how he'd managed to get Kanao's attention when otherwise nothing could even faze that girl.

"Also, stop whining." She told him blankly, halting his inner swooning. Okay, maybe she wasn't being all lovey-dovey for him, but the interaction was a start. "Now, with your muscles like this, you should probably halt your physical training for a day or two…but If you're interested, I think I figured out a way you can still keep training even as you recover."

Zenitsu raised an eyebrow and turned to her, "And that is?"

"Well, by training you breathing, of course." She told him, "There was an interesting method that Lady Shinobu and Kanao both used that could be really helpful for you. I asked the girls to go get it, so they should be back soon."

The blond boy nodded, his ears perking suddenly as he heard several distinct footsteps coming from the mansion's corridors, "More than soon." He noted, just before the door behind them slid open and Kiyo, Naho, and Sumi all walked in carrying a large box over their heads, "…is it really okay for them to be carrying all that weight?"

"Well, actually, it's not that heavy." She told him as the three little girls carefully set the box down before him, and Aoi got up, thanking them briefly. Once the girls had moved off, she opened the box and carefully set out its contents. Zenitsu blinked as five clay gourds of varying size, the smallest one about the length of his forearm when up, but the biggest of them was over half his own height. This even managed to catch Tanjiro's attention, who paused with his katas to look over at the gourds. "You'll start with the smallest one. Once you get that down, you go to the next one, and so on, until you finally reach this big one."

"Uh…okay. But what exactly am I supposed to do with those?" Zenitsu asked confusedly.

"Pretty simple," Aoi shrugged, "You blow on them."

"So…is it supposed to make a cool sound or something?" He asked again, even more confused.

"Nope." She shook her head, "You blow in them till they explode from the inside."

"…oh, of course, you explode them…" He repeated calmly, before suddenly processing what she said, "…wait, WHAT?! I'm supposed to literally blow those up with my breathing?!"

"Yep." Aoi said simply, "Kanao herself is currently practicing on blowing up the biggest one, but Lady Shinobu can do it without even getting winded."

"Shinobu?! You can't be serious!" He exclaimed, "I mean, I get it she's a Pillar, but she's smaller than you! How is anyone able to explode those with their breath alone?!"

"Hey, show more respect!" Aoi told him, suddenly riled up, "Lady Shinobu is an amazing Demon Slayer, something like this is no trouble for her!"

"I'm not trying to disrespect her, I'm just saying-" Zenitsu and Aoi's discussion would suddenly be interrupted by a loud sound of something bursting. Both froze, before simultaneously turning slowly to look back to the gourds after moving their attention from them for only a moment. They would both see Tanjiro with the remaining pieces of what used to be the biggest of the gourds at his feet.

"…oops." Was all he could say, left in a somewhat awkwardly position at the non-couple staring at him with the same blank look, "Sorry, I just wanted to try that out…I hope there's another one of these which Kanao can practice with?"

"…yeah, there's a few more in the back," Aoi said with an exasperated sigh.

"Why am I not surprised…?" Zenitsu asked with an almost nervous chuckle, "I guess I forgot how ridiculously strong you were for a moment there, Tanjiro…"

"You're overestimating me, Zenitsu." Tanjiro told his friend, taking a seat as well, "Why don't you try and blow at one of those? You might be surprised…"

"You kidding? I'm not nearly as good at the whole breathing thing as you are…" Zenitsu admitted.

"Right, you aren't, but…why don't you try blowing at the smallest gourd?" The red-haired boy suggested, motioning to the gourd in question.

"Alright…I'm telling you though, it's a waste of time." The blond boy reached out for the gourd in question, and raised it up to his lips, "Okay…here we go," he said, breathing in deeply before blowing with all he could into the gourd. Much to his surprise though, after a moment, it would indeed shatter in his hands, "…huh. Whatcha know, it's not that hard?"

"Not that hard? Those things are not made from normal clay, Zenitsu. They're super tough." Aoi then told him, "I've practiced with the one you were holding for months, but I was never even able to crack it."

"She's right, Zenitsu." Tanjiro agreed, "It's not that it's easy. You've been getting stronger lately with our training. In fact, I'd say you might be progressing even better than me."

"Well, duh…it's easier to go from weak to less weak than from monstrously strong to super monstrously strong." Zenitsu pointed out.

"Do I really need to tell you again? You're stronger than you think," Tanjiro told the boy in an attempt to motivate him, "C'mon, try with the second gourd."

Zenitsu paused and stared at the gourd for a moment, not taking much notice of Aoi as she stared over at him expectantly, donning a small frown as she did, "...alright. Why not?" He said, reaching out for the second gourd, "Might as well try it." Grabbing and raising it up to his mouth, he took a deep breath before again blowing out hard at it. With the gourd being twice as tall and twice as thick as the previous one, it held up, but Zenitsu continued blowing on it until he was nearly out of breath, and just as he was about to reach his limit, the gourd would suddenly give, a notable crack appearing in its side.

He gasped and panted, left indeed out of breath after all that, but would indeed take note of the crack on the gourd. "Huh...guess I still have some ways to go."

"Still, that's a great start!" Tanjiro exclaimed encouragingly, "If you keep training, you might even be able to keep your breath up indefinitely soon!"

Zenitsu blinked, "Uh...indefinitely? What do you mean?"

"I thought as much..." Aoi admitted, "As I at least think you should know, Full Focus Breathing is when a Demon Slayer utilizes their breathing to boost their physical capabilities. A Mizunoto like me might be able to keep it going for a full hour before it really drains me, but for those who have mastered their own breathing like the Pillars, Kanao and apparently Tanjiro here, they can use Constant Full Focus Breathing, which is basically using your breathing to enhance your body to certain degree around the clock, even when they are asleep."

"...you mean you keep this up twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week? No stops?" Zenitsu asked, turning to Tanjiro.

"Yeah," He shrugged, "didn't know it had a name though..."

"Figures..." The blond sighed, "No matter how much I trained, I just couldn't shake off the feeling I wasn't getting any closer to your level..."

"You're too hard on yourself, Zenitsu." Tanjiro told him, "Like I said, you're not too far away from achieving it yourself. All it takes is a bit more training, and I know you'll get it down."

"...maybe you're right." Zenitsu conceded, looking down, "Thanks, Tan-" The boy paused then as his advanced hearing suddenly detected something, causing him to turn over to the closed main gates of the Butterfly estate, clearly visible from where they were.

"Is something wrong, Zenitsu?" Aoi inquired, to which he nodded.

"Someone's coming...and they're coming quick." He said, pointing over at the gate, and causing Tanjiro's gaze to switch over to that direction too, probably smelling the same someone he had been hearing, but unlike Zenitsu, he would raise an eyebrow in surprise then.

"...wait, I recognize that smell..." The red-haired boy noted as the footsteps began getting louder and louder before something crashed onto the gate and burst them open with a loud bang. Sure enough, from the cloud of dust raised by the crash, a familiar figure rose, one bare-chested, with two jagged swords and the head of a boar.

"It might have taken forever, but I finally found you, Kanjiro Danbako!" The boar headed swordsmen whom Zenitsu had once heard introduce himself as Inosuke declared to the heavens, pointing his blade over at them, "Our rematch shall be legendary!"

"_Holy crap, I never expected to see this crazy bastard_ _again!_" Zenitsu thought, shocked at the Demon Slayer's sudden arrival, "_What the hell is he even doing here?!"_

"Uh...there's no one by that name here..." Aoi told him, not sure what to make of the stranger barging into the Butterfly Estate like that. That is until she noticed Tanjiro, who looked as if he just wanted to stick his head into a hole and stay there for a while.

"Ah, crap..." The exasperated boy sighed, "Not this guy again."

"I've waited long enough!" Inosuke declared, rushing in at Tanjiro then, "This time you'll be tasting my blade!"

Tanjiro's expression suddenly shifted, as he took a hold of the katana sheathed in his waist and began sliding it out of its scabbard in order to intercept Inosuke's attack, except he would be halted halfway through his draw when a blur moved in between the boar headed swordsman and himself, another blade rising to intercept the two swords before his own could.

Much to his evident surprise, Kanao had suddenly moved in between the two and drew her own sword to intercept Inosuke's attack, "The one you're trying to attack is still healing from his injuries." She said matter of factly, "It wouldn't be beneficial for him to get into a serious brawl at the moment. If you really wish for a fight, I will be your opponent in his steed."

Inosuke, in turn, cackled, "Fine by me! Guess I'll just have to get through you first then!" He broke their lock and swung both his swords incessantly at her. Kanao's, in turn, rose to deflect the jagged katana at every turn, before she retaliated with a slash of her own and would force the swordsman back in order to dodge it. "Not half bad, girlie!" Inosuke exclaimed, before leaping back in at and re-engaging the Tsuguko with his blades, "But I'm still BETTER!"

Zenitsu himself admitted he'd been tempted to move in, but hesitation took the better of him. Maybe it was the smart choice. His arms were hurt and even without that, there was no telling if he'd win against this guy. Besides, it was Tanjiro, he'd be fine either way and even then it wasn't like he hadn't heard Kanao's quick but soft footsteps rushing their way from inside the house after the loud crash caused by Inosuke barging into the mansion.

Aoi sat worriedly beside him while Tanjiro stood watching the spar, silent and sternly, as Inosuke swung down his blade only to have the blow sidestepped by Kanao, and when his second blade followed, she easily deflected before she swung for him, Inosuke twisting back his body unnaturally to dodge it before easily rising back up to have his blades blocked by the Tsuguko's vertically raised blade.

"If they continue like this, one of them is bound to get hurt." Tanjiro noted with a frown, sighing frustratedly before grasping onto his katana's hilt once again, "I gotta stop it before that happens."

Kanao and Inosuke meanwhile pushed each other back, separating from their clash momentarily before dashing in at each other again, their blades ready to strike at each other while Tanjiro prepared to move, but would be interrupted when an unexpected female voice was heard behind Zenitsu, "Tanjiro, why don't you let me handle this one? Kanao is my responsibility, after all..."

Tanjiro would turn briefly and look past Zenitsu, blinking in surprise. Zenitsu, in turn, tried to look behind him as well, but midway through his movement he'd feel something move right past him almost too fast to perceive, and by the time he'd moved back forward, he'd be just in time to see the three blades falling together to the ground.

Standing right in between Kanao and Inosuke was a petite woman whom Zenitsu had come to recognize as the revered boss of the Butterfly Estate. The Insect Pillar, Shinobu Kocho, standing between her Tsuguko and the boar headed Demon Slayer, her haori still fluttering behind her from her sudden movement as she lowered her feet to the ground, each of her hands grabbing lightly at one of the combatants' wrists each.

Somehow, in the moment before the two fighters clashed, she'd successfully stepped in and easily disarmed them both completely. Tanjiro himself was looking in surprise at what had happened, which told Zenitsu that no, it was not in fact his impression, the Insect Pillar was indeed really freaking fast. And not only that but unlike Kanao, even with his hearing he'd not once heard her coming, "_I'll think twice about underestimating HER from now on..._"

"Now, now..." Shinobu said calmly as she let go of their arms, "There is no need for such dangerous fighting, now is there?"

Seeing her older sister's sudden appearance Kanao took a step back and bowed, "I'm sorry, master. He burst in unexpectedly and tried to engage Tanjiro. I was just trying to prevent him from getting into a serious fight and injuring himself further."

"It's fine, Kanao. You did well." Shinobu reassured the girl, while Inosuke behind her stared down at his two trembling hands before closing them into a fist, and looking back up just in time to be face to face with the Pillar once she turned to him, "And what about you, mister boar?"

"I am here to challenge my one and only rival," He boisterously declared, pointing over at Tanjiro, "That is you, Monjiro!"

"…right, I believe I understand what is going on here." Shinobu said then, "You wish to pick a fight with Tanjiro over there…well, unfortunately, he technically still healing, and thus technically my responsibility. That said if you insist on trying to engage him…" her smile widened slightly as her eyes narrowed with a threatening glint on them, a hand lowering to rest on her sword hilt, "…then it would fall upon me to stop you. But you're welcome to try If you really want."

Despite being absolutely ripped, looking very threatening and being the petite woman ng nearly half a foot taller than Shinobu, it was evident that everyone present including Inosuke himself knew this was not a fight he could win. "…fine, I won't attack him anymore." The boar headed swordsman grunted in concession.

"Great!" The Insect Pillar exclaimed, her smile returning to normal as she moved her hand away from her katana's hilt, "In that case, why don't you join us? It's almost lunchtime after al."

There was a loud, animalistic growl that sounded out then, and Zenitsu would take a moment to realize that the sound was, in fact, Inosuke's stomach growling, "…okay, that sounds good." The Demon Slayer conceded, leading to Shinobu giggling amusedly at him.

Zenitsu meanwhile was still pretty surprised at the weird turn of events things had suddenly taken, but it seemed like at least it was over. Though…he did still have one question bothering him, "Hey, Tanjiro," He called out to his friend, "did you get to see how she managed to stop the fight? I was looking away, and when I realized it, they just dropped their swords…"

"…yeah, I did. Barely though." Tanjiro admitted arms crossed as he watched Shinobu, "It was way too fast, but if what I saw was right, she stepped in between them right as they swung at each other and made sure they didn't hit each other by deflecting their swings just before disarming them both at the same time."

Zenitsu blinked, "At the same time…?" He looked over to the patio, where Kanao's katana and both of Inosuke's blades still were, "But…that's three blades. I saw her grabbing them by the wrist, but how could she cause them to drop all three at the same time?"

"Well...if what I managed to see was right, she knocked both of his swings to the side so they missed Kanao, and once they both blows missed, she reached for one of his wrists with her hand...but the other...I'm pretty sure she kicked it with the heel of her feet to knock the blade off his hand." Tanjiro explained, "It all happened in the fraction of a second, and even I barely caught onto what happened, but either way it's crazy to think she managed to stop them both so effortlessly."

Zenitsu recalled for a moment seeing Shinobu lower a raised leg when he first caught sight of her between Inosuke and Kanao, "Yeah...you might be crazy strong, Tanjiro, but the Pillars...they're downright monstrous."

"You can say that again..." Tanjiro muttered in agreement, seeming to drift off in his own thoughts for a moment before was shaken out of it when Inosuke suddenly appeared before him, his boar mark with its blank eyes inches away from his own face. He stared down the somewhat weirded out Tanjiro for another moment before huffing and trampling right past him.

"...that's gonna be an interesting lunch," Zenitsu muttered as he watched the nearby Inosuke randomly running and smashing his head against the wall rather hard.

* * *

Zenitsu's statement was not completely wrong, though the better word over 'interesting' would perhaps be awkward. While Shinobu had excused herself to go back to her duties, the other four Demon Slayers found themselves sitting on the table, with the now unmasked Inosuke in all his effeminate glory went down mouth first on a bowl of rice, gobbling it down with barely any chewing in record speeds combined with all the decency and taste of a starving animal.

While Kanao seemed rather indifferent towards it as she was towards most things, Zenitsu and Tanjiro were both having trouble focusing on their own meal with the repulsive display before them. "_...does this guy not know about chopsticks?_" Tanjiro thought to himself with a sweatdrop.

He didn't voice as much though, knowing better than to try and rouse up the guy. Zenitsu though was a different story, and as Inosuke set down his emptied bowl of rice and let out a deafening burp from the very depths of his stomach, the blond finally decided to annoyedly interject, "I know you walk around wearing a boar mask around, but you don't have to act like a pig in the table too, you know?!"

"Eh?! What did you just say there, blondie?!" Inosuke suddenly exclaimed, slamming both hands on the table and leaning in to stare down Zenitsu from across the table, "You wanna go?!"

"Heh, both you and I know you won't be doing that." Zenitsu pointed out smugly, "After all, I'm just as much as a healing patient here as Tanjiro. You wouldn't want Shinobu to come back and kick your ass, would you...?"

Inosuke at this point was fuming, veins appearing on the side of his head as he seemed indeed holding himself back not to punch Zenitsu there and then. Seeing this, Tanjiro decided that it was maybe best if he did something before this got any worse, "Uh...hey, Inosuke," He called out, earning the boar boy's still angry stare then, "you came all the way here so you could fight me, right?"

"Damn right!" He exclaimed, "I told you already, Denjiro, you are my rival! Didn't think I'd just let you get away after managing to pull a tie in our last battle!"

"_...tie my ass, I totally beat him._" Tanjiro thought, but knew better than to voice that much, "Well...there might be a way of getting around Shinobu's rule of 'dangerous combat'...and since I'm really not hungry anymore, I thought maybe you'd want the chance to fight me after all."

For the first time, Inosuke seemed to calm down slightly as he narrowed his eyes at the red-haired boy, "I'm listening..."

* * *

"...do I really have to use these stupid things instead of my actual swords?" The still unmasked Inosuke asked annoyedly, holding up two bokken taken from a barrel full of them lying out in the yard, "How am I supposed to tear stuff up with flimsy wood?"

"Well...you're not, actually." Tanjiro told him while taking out a bokken for himself as well, "Like I told you, this is the only way of getting around the whole 'dangerous combat' rule. These are sparring swords, they're made so we can fight without hurting each other too badly."

Inosuke paused then, before suddenly widening his eyes in understanding, "...oh, that's actually not that bad then! Means I can beat you over, and over, and over...without even having to stop over pesky injuries."

"...that's the spirit," Tanjiro said, before turning over to the barrel, "Now, where did I leave the...ah, here!" He exclaimed, kneeling down to grab a piece of cloth from behind the barrel.

Seeing that, Inosuke raised an eyebrow, "What's that for?"

"Oh, it's just part of the training, don't worry about it," Tanjiro told him, tying the blindfold over his eyes.

"...maybe this wasn't a very good idea," Zenitsu commented as he watched the two combatants, sitting on the steps leading into the house alongside Kanao.

Sure enough, once Inosuke had processed what Tanjiro was doing, veins would begin popping on the side of his head as his lips twisted into a wild grin, even though his eyes had rage written all over them, "_Bastard's making fun of me...!_" He silently exclaimed in anger, "_I'm gonna show him!"_

"Alright then, here we go!" He roared, moving in towards Tanjiro while he was still adjusting the blindfold. Except, rather than just hitting him across the head with a bokken as planned, the boy would instead move to the side and evade his blade at the last moment. Inosuke blinked in surprise, but decided it was a fluke, and spun around swinging his other blade at Tanjiro, which this time was deflected and countered, forcing Inosuke himself to narrowly dodge.

"_The hell?! How is he fighting like that?!_" Inosuke thought in confusion and frustration as he slashed repeatedly at his blinded opponent, but Tanjiro blocked, dodged and deflected every single one of them, swinging his blade horizontally at the first chance he found and leading to the wooden blade to graze Inosuke in the face as he leaped away from his opponent.

"Oh? Did I managed to catch you with that one, Inosuke?" Tanjiro inquired as he lowered his blade, though the inquiry only seemed to piss the wild-looking Demon Slayer off even further.

"You really wanna know...? Well, I'll show ya then..." he breathed in, gripping both his blade tightly before moving in towards Tanjiro again for the kill, not holding back in the slightest as he drew both blades back, "Breath of the Beast, Third Fang: Rip and Devour!"

Even with his blindfold, the surprise in Tanjiro's face was clear as he tried to duck underneath the blow but was unable to dodge it fully as both blades simultaneously struck him at either side of his head with immense force, causing both bokken to simultaneously snap over his head.

"HAHAHA, VICTORY IS MINE!" Inosuke cackled to the heavens, raising both broken bokken victoriously while Tanjiro remained on the ground after being on the receiving end of a full force breath technique, even if it was one used with bokken rather than an actual katana. Zenitsu stared gapingly at the scene, and even Kanao had her eyes widened in surprise.

Before either of them could really do anything though, Inosuke's triumph would be interrupted when the upward swing of a katana struck him in the chin and knocked him down as well. "What's wrong, Inosuke?" Tanjiro asked, grunting as he rose to his feet, "I expected a bit more from my rival..."

Inosuke stared at the blindfolded by from his downed state for another moment, "...your rival?"

"Yeah, that's what we are, right?" He asked, tossing his bokken over to Inosuke, followed by a second one he fished out of a barrel as well as a third one for himself, "And a proper rival wouldn't go down after a single blow, don't you agree? Though perhaps holding back on breathing techniques so not to break all these bokken might be wise too..."

Inosuke caught both wooden blades, and stared over at the blind Tanjiro for another moment before grinning wide, "You sure know how to rile me up, Yonjiro...alright then, here I go again, rival!" He declared, rushing in at his opponent as he, in turn, raised his blade.

"...you know, I'm starting to think that was his plan all along," Zenitsu noted as the two boys went at it with their wooden blades, and Kanao only hummed quietly in agreement.

And so, just like that, Inosuke too joined the training.

* * *

Things had changed in Natagumo Mountain during the last few weeks. In specific, with the Spider Family dynamics. Things seemed strangely more...relaxed, in a way. While members of the spider family continued being sent out to gather humans from nearby settlements, Rui hadn't seemed as focused on the rest of the family as of late.

While normally him finding an arbitrary reason to punish one of them was a near-daily occurrence, he'd seemed distracted lately. None of the family members had commented on it, but the demon known as the Spider Sister knew they had noticed it too. And much like herself, they probably had guessed the cause of behind that change as well.

At the start, Chihime's presence seemed to bother Rui immensely, but ever since the day she'd protected her and left him at the mercy of her blade, the Sister had seen him staring off at the girl's direction with that odd expression many times. It's not like she didn't understand though. Ever since that day, the Sister herself had become transfixed with her savior. It took a few days of hesitation, until one night where she had just approached the demon girl as she watched the sky on the rooftop like usual and asked to sit beside her. She'd just nodded, and since then they'd made a habit of just sitting on the rooftop and staring at the sky silently for hours at a time.

They did so for several nights, almost routinely. Initially, she was worried about how Rui might be angered by her getting closer to Chihime, but as it turned out, he didn't seem to care in the slightest, not even once commenting on it. In a weird way, just sitting next to her was the safest she had felt for a very long time.

This would remain as part their routine until one night when it was unexpectedly changed as Chihime broke her silence once again, "May I ask you a question?" She suddenly inquired.

The Spider Sister turned to look at her in shock for a moment at finally being spoken to by the Lower Moon demon, and though hesitant, she replied, "...yeah, sure."

"How do you feel about this family of yours?" Chihime asked then, staring at the other demon expectantly for a response.

This, of course, was not an easy question for the Spider Sister. She'd been living on this prison of a family for so long, she pretty much adopted the persona of Sister into her personality, never letting her pervious self shine through. Many others had failed to do so, and their family had been shortened dramatically because of it, "O-of course...they are my family. I care deeply for all of-"

"Be honest." Chihime told her simply, before continuing to stare at the Sister expectantly.

"...it's complicated." She quietly admitted with a sigh, "Rui saved my life...he provided for me, for all of us, made sure we could protect ourselves and each other, but...sometimes, I can't help but feel like...like..." She hesitated, before whispering, "...a prisoner..."

"..." Chihime stared at her silently for a moment before turning her gaze back up at the sky, "...I think...I too had a family a long time ago. I don't remember anything before Lord Muzan found me, but there's this odd feeling sometimes like there was something before that...something I forgot." She narrowed her eyes, "I suppose it doesn't really matter. I owe my life to Lord Muzan, and so I live to serve him."

The Sister stared at her uneasily. She'd heard Chihime do the same thing when she confronted her brother, but even now it was still unnatural to her that somehow the curse that should apply to all other demons aside from the Progenitor himself didn't apply for this lone Lower Moon, "How...how can you say that name...?"

Chihime looked back at her with a raised eyebrow, "What do you mean?" She asked.

Before the Spider Sister could even think up a proper reply though, they would be interrupted by a voice behind them, "Ah, so there you are." The two female demons would turn to look behind them, and the Sister's eyes would widen as she saw Rui standing on the rooftop right behind them, his gaze locked on Chihime, "It appears you have finally begun opening up…in that case, I would like to talk to you about something…" He turned his gaze briefly at his sister in a glare, "In private."

She shivered and was about to scurry off when Chihime spoke, "She stays. Whatever you want to talk to me, she hears it too."

The Sister would freeze for a moment, fully expecting this to be the impetus for another fight between the two of them, but instead, Rui only narrowed his eyes in annoyance, "Fine…she can sit quietly and listen then." He agreed, almost warningly.

Chihime narrowed her eyes then, "So? What is it?"

"Well, ever since our previous…scuffle, I've been thinking." He stepped closer to her, "Though you did manage to catch me by surprise then, you are still below me in the Demon Moon's ranks, and there are even stronger demons who stand above the two of us, demons who see us and each other as threats to their own survival after we were given our ultimatum. But I see now, that you are special, in ways, I cannot claim to fully understand. Helping each other, we may able to guarantee not only our survival but our ascension into the ranks of the Upper Moons as well. Together."

"You're proposing a partnership." She basically summarized.

"Oh, no…I am proposing much more than that." Rui said as he took yet another step towards her, "We can be family. You and me, growing stronger and expanding our family even further…" He reached out to caress her cheek then, "Such a beautiful face…and you would look even better with lighter hair…"

Chihime then grabbed his arm before Rui could touch her face and stared him down silently for a moment, their gazes locked. "_This is it…this time there's definitely gonna be a fight…_" The Spider Sister nervously thought, backing away as the two Lower Moons just stared each other down silently, but before it could ever escalate further, their concentration would be taken away by something else.

"Everyone, we have a situation here!" A familiar voice called out loudly, and the Sister would look down from the rooftop to see the Spider Brother crawling with his arachnid body out of the forest, "Demon Slayers! They're coming up our mountain! We need to do something!"

Rui narrowed his eyes then as he took his attention away from Chihime, walking to the edge of the rooftop, "Calm down, brother. It'll be handled like usual." He said, jumping down over to the balcony of their mansion, "How many of them are there?"

"Eight, from what I counted." The demon replied.

"Hm…I see." Rui turned to glance behind him over to the house, "Mother, come out. We have a situation that could use your expertise."

The Spider Mother would emerge from the mansion out onto the balcony, her head hanging low, "…I heard it all. But…that's a lot of Demon Slayers, Rui. If they manage to get past my Blood Demon Art, I don't know if I can hold them all back."

"Are you questioning your own son's request, mother…?" Rui asked her dangerously.

This immediately washed away the Mother's hesitation, "N-no…of course not. I'll get right to it!"

She was about to move off to try and deal with the Demon Slayers when Chihime too leaped down from the rooftop, followed closely by the sister, "Wait," She called out, "I wish to help."

The Spider Mother blinked, while Rui turned at Chihime with a raised eyebrow, "And why would you do that exactly?"

"Her Blood Demon Art involves trapping and puppeteering others, isn't that right?" Chihime asked, which evidently surprised all of them, given she'd never talked to any of the Spider Family members aside from Rui before today, so this information should be well out of her reach.

"_Guess all that time silently observing wasn't just for show._" The Sister thought to herself.

"…correct." Rui affirmed then, "What about it?"

"I can incapacitate them, enough so where grabbing them with those threads would be a non-issue." Chihime told them, before turning to Rui, "…consider that my contribution to the family."

Before anyone could say another word, she'd disappeared in a burst of speed, leaving the Spider Family behind to go ahead and deal with the threat at hand.

* * *

"I don't get it, Fumito," A young Demon Slayer with her black hair tied into a ponytail asked her comrade, "Why do you even keep wearing that thing? You do know it doesn't work, right?"

"I told you already, Ozaki. My cultivator gave it to me when I went off for my Final Selection," A sandy blond-haired boy with long hair wearing a warding mask carved to resemble a cat on the side of his head replied, "I know it won't keep demons away, but I still wear it for good luck."

"Quiet, you two!" A third Demon Slayer, a buff young man with short brown hair and a scar on the side of his face, said scoldingly to both Fumito and Ozaki, "We must stay alert for any demons might be lurking about!"

"Yes, sir!" Both of them nervously apologized simultaneously. Meanwhile, in the back of the group of eight threading through dangerous territory, a single Demon Slayer was quietly chuckling at the interaction between his two comrades and the acting leader of their squad in this mission, the man known as Ichiro. The Demon Slayer in question was a young man with black parted hair with matching eyes, known to those around him only as Murata. The situation itself was unnerving, after all. There had been an unnaturally large number of human abductions in the villages closest to Natagumo in the past month, so the indication was that there were powerful demons lurking about in the forested mountain. That's why so many Demon Slayers had been sent out at once to try and deal with them effectively. Still, the idea that they could come across a powerful demon at any point as they ascended the mountain was enough to get on Murata's nerves, so if anything, seeing his comrades bickering at least served to return some normalcy to the situation and take his mind off the issue at hand for a moment.

Murata though still felt nervous with the situation at hand. After all, he was a rank beneath those two companions, with both Fumito and Ozaki being Tsuchinoto, the fifth rank, while he was a Kanoe, a fourth rank. While there were others in the group who were the same rank as him or even some Kanoto, he still felt somewhat inferior to those two, given they were able to banter even in such a dangerous situation. And they, in turn, were not even close to the focused Ichiro, who donned the second-highest rank of Kinoto. It was no wonder he was the one leading them in a mission when, if the rumor were to be believed, there was a chance they would be facing a Demon Moon in this mission. If that really was the case though, he was wondering if they shouldn't have sent a Pillar or two instead of them...

His line of thought was interrupted when Ichiro raised a closed hand from beneath the brown cloak he was wearing, asking for them to halt, which the group did without leaving their dispersed formation, "...something is about." He said simply, and all of them suddenly stopped silently, each and every one of them expectant of what was to come.

Murata gripped his katana by the hilt and stared with narrowed eyes into the darkness, before suddenly pausing as he saw something emerged from it. A white-clad figure wearing a haori of sorts. It was quite far, so he really couldn't make out much of it, but it looked like...a girl? "Stop right there!" Fumito called out into the darkness as he too gripped the katana sheathed on his back. And the figure did stop, if only for a moment, before it disappeared altogether and reappeared a moment later in their midst, wearing clothes similar in style to that of a demon slayer's alongside a blue haori, the brown-haired girl held a violet-purple sword that had just cut a line across the chest one of Murata's comrades There was a moment of shock and panic in the group as their comrade fell to his knees without ever drawing his own sword, and most Demon Slayers scattered away from the attacker, but two, in particular, dashed at her from opposing sides with their blades drawn, but upon swinging it at their target, the girl would dodge both katana before raising her own to entrap both swords beneath it and, with a powerful upwards swing, disarm them both as their blades were sent flying into the air. Before either of them could react, she would hit one with an elbow to the chest and the other one with a kick to the gut as they were both sent flying back out of it.

"You bastard!" Another Slayer called out in anger as he dashed at the foe, ready to draw his katana, "Take this! Breath of-" He would be interrupted as, mid-way through his draw, the girl would close in distance and slam an open palm on the blade's hilt to push it back into its scabbard before swinging her own blade and striking the Demon Slayer in the neck with the blunt side in order to send him to his knees, gasping for air and coughing violently before having the hilt of her sword slammed on the back of his head to knock him out.

Murata stood frozen in shock as this attacker had, in moments, effectively taken out half of their squad in their moment of panic. Non-lethally, sure, but in a way that only made her scarier. And worst of all, she'd turned towards him before dashing off in his direction. The young Demon Slayer could do little but raise his drawn sword to try and intercept her advance. Except, right before she could reach him, she'd stop, just as something swung down before him and struck the ground separating him and the attacker with enough force to leave a crack in the earth.

After a moment, Murata would realize what had been swung down and nearly crushed the attacker beneath it was, in fact, a very long chain, with a heavy iron weight the size of his head attached to it. Looking off to the side, Murata would see Ichiro dashing in towards the girl, swinging the other end of the chain and the scythe attached to it. She would duck, and retreat by jumping back, to dodge the weighted end that Ichiro then sent her way with a tug at the chain.

Ichiro then stepped in front of Murata, twirling its heavy end in a circle beside him on one hand and taking hold of the scythe with the other while both Fumito and Ozaki jumped in to land at either side of him, "Be careful. This is no average opponent…" The squad leader warned the other Demon Slayers, "Look at her eye."

Murata raised an eyebrow at that, but sure enough tried to focus past the fairly delicate features and pay attention in her eye, which was when he noticed the symbol engrained on her right one, "That's…!"

"Yeah…Lower Moon Five…" Ozaki said, her jade blade of nichirin raised cautiously.

"Looks like the rumors were true…" Fumito noted, drawing his own scarlet bladed katana.

"Be careful, if we want to take her down, we must attack together," Ichiro told them.

Murata swallowed drily, but could only grip his katana tightly waiting for her to move again. "Yes, sir!"

They barely had the time to get their bearings however as the sword-wielding demon dashed in, ducking underneath the chain swung at her by Ichiro and trying to close in with him, only to be intercepted by Ozaki, who swung her blade and forced the demon to block, only for Fumito to jump in from the side and bring down his katana at the narrowly dodging demon. The two chased after her, attacking together and pressing her back with the pressure of two blades, until a mistimed swing allowed the Lower Moon to block and disarm Ozaki of her blade, who was forced to fall back as he slack was picked up by Fumito, breathing in and preparing a breath technique to keep the demon's attention, "Breath of Flames, First Style: Sea of Fire!" He announced, his blade bursting with fire as he released a series of swings at his foe, forcing her to keep her full attention on blocking his attack, though the final blow of it had enough power behind it to send her skidding back.

She'd jump over the weight swung at her legs, before narrowly ducking the brown-bladed scythe aimed for her head. Ichiro moved in, and with his two weapons away from him, she'd try to dash in and cut him down. The Lower Moon Demon would be surprised however as Ichiro tugged at the chain and suddenly had it knock her blade to the side mid-dash before breathing deeply and stomping with a foot down onto the chain, "Breath of Stone, Second Form: Upper Smash!" He announced as the heavy end of the kusarigama was suddenly recoiled upwards with the chain, and though the demon managed to step aside and dodge it, her blade would be knocked off her grip, successfully disarming her.

"_It's my chance!_" Murata exclaimed, dashing in to take advantage of her momentarily unarmed state as he gripped his katana tightly and breathed in, "Breath of Water, Third Style: Dance of the Rapid Current!" his blade burst with a thin stream of water as he tirelessly slashed in at the Lower Moon in a wild and unpredictable manner, at which point she'd turn her attention to him and begin dodging his swings and slashes, seeing through every single one of his attacks coming and moving accordingly in order to evade them, at least up until she'd notice one of the Demon Slayers she'd taken out earlier before they could even draw their blades lying nearby and backflipped away from Murata, taking ahold of the katana's hilt midair and drawing it, raising it quickly to block the following blow before she'd even landed.

Knocking his blade aside, the Lower Moon would move in for another attack too quick for him to dodge but was forced back when Ozaki leaped back into the fight and swung down at her with her recovered blade. She'd back up quickly, and be forced to jump again over Ichiro's scythe being thrown in her direction, as well as intercept the attacking Fumito while both Ozaki and a nervous Murata chased her in. Moving away from Fumito, the Lower Moon would take note of another katana from the Slayers she'd disarmed next to her feet and kicked it up to grab the sword with her free hand, able to intercept the three attacking Demon Slayers with two swords, keeping the trio at bay with a seemingly impenetrable defense. Not only that, but she seemed fully aware of Ichiro's position and the advantage of attacking from a distance with his Kusarigma, and made sure she was never in a clear position in relation to him that didn't put any of his comrades at risk by him attacking.

Despite their combined efforts, neither Murata, Fumito nor Ozaki managed to land a blow on the demon, regardless of the angle approached or how they slashed, every swing was dodged or met by one of her swords, leading them around seemingly effortlessly. Finally, she'd back up, and throw a spinning katana on their direction that Fumito only barely managed to deflect with his own blade. This though was a distraction as she flipped back and tossed the other katana, this one cutting through the air tip first, missing both Fumito and Ozaki, but painfully slashing the side of Murata's sword arm and leaving behind a deep gash. The Kanoe winced and covered the wound with his other hand, while his two Tsuchinoto comrades moved after the demon who'd wounded him.

The Lower Moon would move away from them and towards the direction of her disarmed blade but would be intercepted by Ichiro swinging both ends of his chain perpendicular to one another at her, though she would still be able to dive in between them to narrowly dodge the attack, rolling upon landing to reach and pick up her blade. Just in time too as both Fumito and Ozaki close the distance and attacked her together again, but this time, with her own katana, the numerical advantage would not be enough to push her back as she quickly began fighting off both Slayers at once, stopping all their attacks regardless and counterattacking at every chance.

She would block Ozaki's blade and push her back to send the Slayer skidding some distance away, before moving to the side and intercepting Fumito's, holding down his sword before swinging her sharpened nails at his face. Though he backed up in time, her claws still scratched him rather deeply and knocked him back first into the ground. "Fumito!" Ozaki called, quickly rushing back up towards her downed comrade, breathing in deeply as wind seemed to circle around her. "Breath of the Wind, First Style: Whirlwind Cutter!"

She moved in towards Lower Moon Five at high speeds, a cyclone of slashes forming around her intent on cutting down everything that came in her way. The demon however only turned to her direction, raising her blade slightly as her eyes narrowed. Then, right before Ozaki was about to reach him, the blade rose to intercept hers before quickly swinging in a counter. Stumbling, Ozaki's dash was halted as she began losing speed, before looking down and noticing the large bleeding gash cut into her side by the demon, and soon thereafter, collapsing in the ground as well.

With only three Demon Slayers left, she would then dash in for Fumito, who raised his blade and did much of the same, though evidently holding back his anger for what the demon had done to his comrades. Ichiro would try to help too, stepping in and pulling at one of his chains to send the weighted end of the kusarigama flying in a downward vertical trajectory right for the Lower Moon's head while she was still mid-dash. Her eyes darted upwards, however, and she would suddenly slow down while catching sight of the cattack, raising her blade to intercept the chain before tugging it to the side, causing it to wrap around the katana and change its directory, which in turn led to the heavy metal weight slamming onto the side of Fumito's face, knocking the mask off the side of his face and sending his unconscious form to the ground alongside his newly broken jaw.

Ichiro, however, would make the best of a bad situation, and use that chance to wrap the chain not only around the demon's sword but have it envelops and trap the entire length of her forearm before pulling in hard, locking himself in a heated tug of war match with the Lower Moon as she pulled back just as hard. Murata though saw this as his second chance, and dashed in ignoring the wound on his arm, "_This is my chance! I gotta hit her with something she can't block nor dodge in her situation...something fast...the fastest the Breath of Water's got to offer!_" He breathed in, pulling back his sword in preparation for his fastest technique as the demon looked over at him, "Breath of Water, Seventh Style: Piercing Raindrop!"

Seeing the tip of the blade rapidly thrust towards her throat, the demon's eyes widened. Even with its speed though, she'd breathe in and tug the chain at the last moment, managing to entrap the blade in between one of its links before pulling it down and stomping hard on the hilt to deeply sink the blade into the ground. She then immediately body slammed Murata away from her, using the leverage created by the katana then to free her arm and her sword with it.

Murata landed roughly on the ground, and though dazed, he was still fully conscious, and thus saw the demon coming in to take him out next. Being unarmed, he could do little but try and fruitlessly crawl away from the rushing Lower Moon as she raised her blade and prepared to attack, only for a scythe to suddenly be pulled with the chain, its blade dragging her own to the side and preventing her from swinging it a moment before Ichiro himself jumped in, gripping close to the chain's end while bringing down the recovered weighted end on the demon.

She'd move at the last moment to dodge the kusarigama, and try to slash at Ichiro instead, only for the Demon Slayer to use his chain in deflecting her sword and taking a hold of her scythe's grip to retaliate, pushing her away from Murata, "Breath of Stone," He called out, gripping onto his chain tightly, "Fourth Form: Volcanic Conquest!" Ichiro pulled at the chain to manipulate both the scythe and the weight to strike at the Lower Moon from both ends, though even then she seemed to see right through the attacks and weave between chain, weight, and scythe alike with quick and precise sword swings to keep the kusarigama at bay.

Ichiro dashed after her, pulling the chain closer and grabbing it near one end of the weapon and starting to spin around its weighted end frantically, building up momentum so to redirect the swinging chain at the demon once approaching, leaving her with little option but to deflect the chain to the side at every rotation, its weighted end digging gashes into the earth without losing much momentum in its spinning, twisting and pulling the chain to make its trajectory less predictable to try and finally land a blow in the Lower Moon. Finally though, after a great deal of dodging, she would leap over the chain as it was swung horizontally at her and slash at the Demon Slayer with her blade, only for his scythe to block the blow, its momentum sending her flying over Ichiro's head. The Kinoto swung around, tossing the heavy end of his kusarigama to try and catch her with it while midair, but the demon raised her blade to knock it to the side. What she didn't predict though was the scythe being tossed in as well, and swung upwards towards her neck as she was about to land. While she did twist her body midair to avoid it successfully, it did leave a fairly deep gash across her cheek, and though it was already halfway done healing by the time she landed again, it was still the drop of blood many Demon Slayers had struggled to draw from her.

The two combatants separated, both the demon and Ichiro moving back. The latter seemed determined now that he'd managed to land if even a scratch on the demon, keeping the scythe close and the weighted end spinning. The former, however, despite her recent cut, seemed very calm about the fight, not even bothering to raise her blade. In fact, she'd let go of it with one of her hands, and lower it to the side, before silently clenching it into a fist. A moment later, the scythe in Ichiro's hand suddenly burst with purple flames bathing its edge, startling the Demon Slayer and forcing him to let go of the bladed end of his weapon. That though was the chance the Lower Moon had been waiting for, and she closed the distance in a moment's notice. Ichiro, though still startled, tried swinging the heavy end of the kusarigama at her, only for the demon to jump over the swing, landing with a knee right to his face that knocked him down as well.

Murata froze watching all that, not sure where the flames in the scythe had come from, but seeing Ichiro fall to the ground out for the count regardless, leaving him as the only remaining Demon Slayer on the group. The demon turned her gaze for him then as she landed from her leap and skidded across the ground, ready to dash back at him and finish her job when she was distracted as, with her skid halting, she'd hit something with the back of her foot and look down for a moment. Murata didn't wait another moment, as he sheathed away the sword he'd recovered while Ichiro fought off the Lower Moon and began running off. As he did, delving deeper into the forest, he'd glance over his shoulder one last time and see the demon picking up Fumito's mask off the ground, her attention fully devoted to it as his teammates began rising from their unconscious state, all at the same time and with crooked motions that made to Murata very clear that something was wrong about them. Regardless, he knew already this was not a fight he could win, not by himself. And so, he turned his gaze back forward and just kept on running.

* * *

Rui sat on a tree branch, anxiously awaiting Chihime's return after she went off to deal with the Demon Slayers invading their territory. She'd seemed to respond negatively to his offer, but at the same time, the thing she'd said, how dealing with the Slayers was her 'contribution to the family', sent some mixed signals with it. He really could only wonder what that really meant, or what was going on in her head. He just knew she was special, and that Lord Muzan had sent her his way. Maybe that's what this was, and he really was meant to make her part of his family. With a sister like that, he was sure he could go further than any of the other Lower Moons by themselves, so one way or another, he would convince her to join his cause.

His line of thought was interrupted when he noticed Chihime down below emerging from the dark forest, "_There she is._" He thought, leaping down from the tree branch to meet her. As he landed though, he would look up at her to say something and have the words caught on his throat in surprise when he saw her. Unlike when she went off to deal with the Slayers, Chihime was now wearing a mask, painted white with features resembling a cat such as the two ears at the top of the mask, as well as swirling red lines on both its cheeks and under its eyeholes, through which he could barely see the 'Lower Moon Five' symbol engraved on her eye. "They've been mostly dealt with." She said from behind the mask as she walked past Rui, "One of them escaped though, so be on the lookout for him."

Despite wanting to ask about the mask, Rui held himself back as something told him he wouldn't be receiving any answer he couldn't glean for himself. Instead, he only looked at her back as she moved off, recalling his earlier comment on her 'beautiful face'...which made it seem like the mask was donned with the sole purpose of annoying him. If that really was the case though, then it was definitely succeeding. "_So that's how you wish to play...but it doesn't matter._" The Lower Moon Four thought, staring at her back intently, "_Sooner or later you will be mine..._"

* * *

It was the sixteenth day of their stay on the Butterfly Mansion when Shinobu deemed Tanjiro's arm fully healed and ready to return to action. Zenitsu, though not back to his full capacity like Tanjiro, had mostly recovered as well, and Genya had just returned from his mission the previous day too. Currently, everyone was having a celebratory feast marking Tanjiro's recovery, and though most of them had gotten used to how lacking Inosuke's table manners were, the newly arrived Genya couldn't help but be distracted by it.

"Okay, so let me get this straight." Aoi said then, trying to process the immense coincidence she'd just caught onto, "Tanjiro has a very good nose, Zenitsu has amazing hearing, Kanao has inhuman eyesight, Genya can eat demons and Inosuke is very sensitive to any kind of touch. Is everything right?"

"Pretty much. I really hadn't thought about it at all until Inosuke mentioned being able to feel people staring at him." Tanjiro told her while holding up his own bowl of stew, "It's pretty weird, huh?"

"It's not weird, it's crazy!" Aoi exclaimed, "I mean...I've heard of people with some pretty inhuman abilities before, but what are the chances that every single one of the Five Senses would gather in a place by complete coincidence like that?"

"Huh...the Five Senses really isn't that bad a name though." Zenitsu noted offhandedly

"I agree!" An unmasked Inosuke boisterously declared with half-chewed food still in his mouth, slamming a fist on the table, "Mighty Lord Inosuke leading the Five Senses into battle! I like the ring of that!"

"... I'd like that better if our so-called 'mighty leader' could swallow at least half the food he puts in his mouth instead of spitting it out when he speaks," Genya admitted beside him.

"Whatcha say there, punk?!" Inosuke asked, suddenly grabbing Genya by the collar angrily, as the scarred boy, in turn, raised his hand in preparation to strike him.

"Oh, hey there Shinobu..." Zenitsu called out with a grin then, immediately causing the two boys to quickly separate before a fight could actually break out, both facing forward nervously not daring to look at each other. It took them seeing the blond boy burst out in laughter to realize he was, in fact, joking at their expense and had them both glaring angrily at Zenitsu, which caused his laughter to die down quickly before he turned his gaze down and away from the two angry Demon Slayers across from him.

Tanjiro was also chuckling at the situation when his attention was pulled elsewhere, "Tanjiro," Kanao, sitting to his left, called out, "Can I ask you a question?"

He turned over to look at her curiously then, wondering what she wanted to ask him about, "Yeah, sure. What is it, Kanao?"

"Why are you always wearing those earrings?" She curiously asked, pointing at the items in question.

"_...well, that's kinda out of_ _nowhere._" Tanjiro thought to himself, "_Given her personality, I guess it's natural for her to be so straightforward. Still, for her to just ask me this out of genuine curiosity is already a big step from the indifferent Kanao who couldn't decide anything without a coin toss._"

"Ah, the earrings...of course." He said, reaching out for one ear and removing one of his hanafuda earrings to show it to Kanao, "It's a family inheritance. It was my father's, and my grandfather's before that, and my great grandfather's too...it's been in my family for as long as anyone can remember. My father gave it to me a few weeks before he passed away, and that in itself was a couple of months before my family was killed...but it's the memento I carry so a bit of them is with me wherever I go."

She slowly nodded, watching him put the earring back on. "...for what it's worth, I'm sorry about your family," Kanao told him.

"Don't be. You're not the one I blame for it." Tanjiro muttered, suddenly distant as he stared at his bowl of stew with his appetite now gone. At that moment, something else would call to his attention as a familiar cawing would be heard coming from outside. He'd narrow his eyes, and briefly excuse himself from the table to step into the garden, raising his arm so Shiro could land on it. "So, what is it?" He asked his crow.

"Eight Demon Slayers have gone missing in Natagumo Mountain while hunting for demons in its vicinities!" The white crow spoke out, "There are suspicions of a Lower Moon demon roaming the mountain!"

"_A Lower Moon Demon...I guess after slaying the first one, they must think I'm good enough to handle another if those suspicions are correct..._" Tanjiro thought, before saying, "Right, anything else?"

"You will be leading a group of five whose members are currently being selected into the depths of the mountain, ascertaining the fate of the Demon Slayers lost and disposing of any demon you come across!" Shiro informed him, "The members of your squad will be arriving at the Butterfly Mansion in the morning, and you shall leave at first light!"

"A group of five, huh...?" Tanjiro murmured, briefly glancing over his shoulder where his fellow Demon Slayers were sitting, before a small smile came to his face, "Actually, tell Lord Ubuyashiki I've already got four other trustworthy Demon Slayers I can take with me to this mission. And we can do so today, still. After all, the earlier the better, right?"

The crow nodded and flew off to deliver the message, with Tanjiro taking a deep breath as he turned around and made his way back to the dining table, preparing himself to break the news to the others. He did, and sure enough, his proposal would be met by many different reactions.

Zenitsu for one seemed afraid of the idea of coming across a Lower Moon, but ultimately decided that if Tanjiro was going, then so was he. Even if his broken ribs hadn't fully healed yet, he claimed to at least feel safer by his friend's side. The fact that Aoi honestly wished for his safe return also didn't hurt in cementing his decision.

Inosuke, of course, was erratic to go do some Demon Slaying. The idea of Tanjiro leading the squad didn't exactly thrill him, but he was placated enough by the promise of being granted the non-existent title of vice-leader.

Genya seemed somewhat hesitant, understandable given he'd just arrived from a mission himself. Ultimately, however, he agreed to go given that the meeting between the Pillars wouldn't happen for another week, and given the destination was not too far away, they could be there and back without missing his brother.

Kanao, lastly, seemed at first to be the most problematic. After all, as she quickly informed them, Tsuguko like herself were not allowed to go out on missions without the prior approval of their mentor. Luckily, this was just the time Shinobu chose to appear, and she personally thought it was a wonderful idea for her to go out with her new friends for some demon-slaying.

And so it was settled. Two hours later the newly dubbed Five Senses had gathered outside the gates of the Butterfly Estate, each and every single one of them dressed ready for the mission.

"Man...I really hope the Lower Moon thing was really just a rumor." Zenitsu said somewhat nervously, "I mean, I know Tanjiro can take them, but I sure don't wanna have to fight one of those myself."

"HAH! I don't care if it's a Lower Moon or an Upper Moon! I'll tear 'em all apart either way!" Inosuke cried out excitedly from beneath his boar head.

"Honestly...if either of you come across one, you'll definitely get killed." Genya told them both bluntly, "You don't underestimate demons that strong and get to live."

"Indeed, Demon Moon or not this seems like it won't be an easy mission." Kanao agreed, "So, are we ready, Tanjiro?"

Leading the group, the red-clad swordsman nodded, "Yeah," Tanjiro said, "Let's go."

And off they went.

**A/N: So, this is my longest chapter so far. I ignored my usual 6k-10k rule and went over 10k for the chapter itself, not counting the Author's Note. Main reason is that I wanted to end the chapter where I did in order to wrap up this training arc and start off Natagumo with the next chapter.**

**First and foremost, my readers might have noticed the new cover image. I mentioned the beautiful drawing from Abyranss last chapter, but now it's ready, and it retracts with perfect accuracy exactly how I imagined Tanjiro and Nezuko to look in this story. I left the link in both sites' profiles, and I hope to in time build a small gallery of links there for any artist who might want to contribute now or in the future in using their talents to bring a bit more life to this story.**

**Now, regarding the chapter itself, I admittedly did have some fun with the first scene with having some needless stuff like Kanao vs Inosuke and Shinobu stepping in to interfere, and that cost me by rushing the end of the chapter a bit. For example, what were meant to be actual interactions with Shinobu and Kanao or Zenitsu and Aoi ended up shortened to a single sentence. I still hope to make up for that a bit in the next chapter though.**

**We also had the first real fight from Chihime in this story, and while I'm holding back on her Breath Style, it already gives you a fairly good idea of what she's capable of, as well as peeking just a bit deeper into her character.**

**Anyway, I wanted to get this chapter out a week earlier, but I underestimated its length, so I ended up just barely making it in time to be on schedule. Due to the holidays, I ended up having less chances to write than I wished to, but at least it all worked out in the end. **

**Thanks to DownwardDive. Cause despite all the cringe he sends me he's still a cool guy.**

**Now, onto the reviews.**

_Guest with Gusto: __Aoi and Zenitsu are cute. I ship it._

**I'm glad you do.**

_Mukuro1796:Okay so the training of Tanjiro goes well, now between the sparring with Tanjiro and Kanao & the glimpse you show us of Nezuko vs Rui, I'm courious to know how will go a fight betweeen Kanao and Nezuko, I look forward to it, and like always Haganezuka it a crazy dude, but that's the fun, well I read you in the next._

**It's not much of a spoiler, since it ain't gonna happen in this arc, but though it would be a hard-fought battle, Chihime would beat Kanao if they faced off at this point in this story. I think her fight with the Demon Slayers this chapter at least cements as much.**

_Arkham Knight: __A rather relaxing chapter. Which is good, not all chapters need to be intense. Tanjiro finally get his sword. Wonder how long it will take him to break this one?_

**Relaxed chapters are good...but now they're over, meaning we'll be getting back into the demon-slaying part of Demon Slayer next chapter.**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: Nice chapter :)._

_I must say that I liked a scene in canon more when tanjiro told kanao to listen to her heart than your version when he managed to beat up her in a sword fight, but if that's how you want to do it it's okay. I mean it was so sweet in canon my god._

_Also Haganezuka made an appperance, it was quite funny when he said he wil left the blade at his grave when he is done with him XD. I also hope for Inosuke to come by too soon._

**Thanks.**

**In my defence, while it's meant to have the same message, it's not meant to have the same emotional impact...yet, anyway. I obviously can't do the same thing as Canon because that Tanjiro is a social butterfly, while this one is learning to care for people aside from a fairly distant master for the first time since his family died. Point is, I'm taking baby steps for a reason, and unlike the manga, I have the leisure to do so and let their relationship be a slower burn. Hopefully, it all works out to a good emotional payoff though.**

**Indeed, Haganezuka is comedy gold, both in the manga and for the sake of my**

_Guest: By the looks of it, seems like Genya's gonna be part of the gang. Hope he doesn't end up dying like in canon. I would really, REALLY love to see the Shinazugawa Bros living the life they deserve_

**So would I, but true to this spirit of canon, not everyone is gonna walk out of this with a happy ending. I can't say if Genya or Sanemi will or won't survive to the end of this story, but all I can say is that it's labelled a tragedy for a reason.**

**Honestly, if you read it this far, I dont think I need to tell you to Follow or Favorite, but the review is still always appreciated. So yeah, see you all next time, where we'll be properly starting the Natagumo Mountain Arc, where I earn the name I gave this fanfic, seeing as here is where the paths will REALLY begin to branch. That said, I cant wait to get to that. Sky signing out.**


	17. Enter Natagumo

The Five Senses ran together through an open field as the sunset painted the skies red behind them, Tanjiro leading the group with a look of focus directed up ahead, Inosuke closely behind cackling at the demons he was soon to face, Kanao with a plain expression staring on ahead, a grunting Genya who was sweating more than any of the Breath Users, but nonetheless kept pace with the group, and finally Zenitsu in the back, pretty much looking as nervous as it gets. "Man, oh man...I barely get out of an encounter with a Lower Moon alive and I'm probably already headed towards another...why did I agree to this again...?"

"...maybe because you were too distracted swooning over Aoi to think properly?" Genya asked blankly beside him.

"...oh, right, she was there..." Zenitsu recalled, looking down somewhat embarrassedly, "...I guess I didn't wanna seem cowardly in front of her...still, I'm sure it'll all be fine! Tanjiro's here, and he can beat anything!"

"I wouldn't be thinking like that if I were you, Zenitsu." Tanjiro told him, glancing over his shoulder at the blond boy, "Last time around, it was a whole gang of demons, and it was just three of us sent out. This time, we're going up against something that took out an entire squad of Demon Slayers, so it will probably require every one of us acting together if we want to succeed."

"...great. That's very uplifting..." Zenitsu sardonically muttered, "Thanks a lot, Tanjiro."

"You don't have to worry about fighting the strong demons, blondie!" Inosuke boisterously declared, "I'm gonna rip each and every last one of them apart, so just watch me!"

"Like I just said, this will only work if we all do this together." Tanjiro repeated himself, "We can't have anyone trying to bite more than they can chew, nor anyone slacking off on the rest of the team."

As he said that, Kanao would glance over and see a brief look of regret cross his face before he picked up the pace slightly and rushed somewhat ahead of the group. Of course, even if every one of them was a capable Slayer in their own right and had a fair idea of how the other's fought from their time sparring with one another, this was still a haphazardly gathered team with some wild cards thrown in the mix and no preparation whatsoever as far as teamwork went. He'd seemingly picked them out of convenience rather than waiting for a properly chosen squad and was paying the price for it.

At least that was what Kanao could assume as she took in her teammates' words and feelings silently, running through a few different scenarios in her head depending on what they might find when they arrived at Natagumo Mountain. For it to take a team of Eight Demon Slayers, especially one led by a Kinoto, it would either have to be a lot of demons attacking together or a single very powerful demon. Neither was a particularly good scenario, but at least in the former, they would be able to go about in their own separate battles rather than relying on their poor teamwork. That though would still leave the cowardly Zenitsu or the reckless Inosuke in trouble, but it still beat everyone dying due to not being able to work well enough against an overwhelming threat.

Looking over at the focused Tanjiro again, Kanao decided to do something he'd strongly encouraged her to do in the last few weeks, and would pick up her pace as well to get in close to him and voice her thoughts, "Tanjiro," She called, earning his attention, "are you worried about the stability of this team you assembled?"

"Ah...so you noticed." The swordsman sighed, glancing back briefly at the group behind, all out of earshot...except probably Zenitsu, though he seemed too nervous to really care, "Yeah, I guess I am, a bit. Still, it's not like I regret bringing you guys..."

She raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

"...there are certain things about the Demon Slayer Corps that I somewhat...disagree with." Tanjiro admitted, "I didn't want to risk getting into a squad with a conflicting ideology to my own since that might cause some bad friction if it came up. But...I do trust you all. And I know I can motivate Zenitsu and reign back Inosuke since I did it already. Even if the team is not perfect, I think we can still make it work."

"...I see." Kanao said, taking note of how vague his statement about the Corps was, but figured it probably best not to ask if he didn't go into detail himself already, "I do hope you're right."

"I'm trusting you with this too, Kanao." Tanjiro then told her, "The others are strong, sure...but from experience, I don't know if any of them could beat a Lower Moon like the one I fought. You though...I think you'd stand a far better chance against one. So if the others are backed into a corner and I'm not there...I'm counting on you to step in and help them."

"Of course." She stated naturally, "It is part of my duty as a Demon Slayers to aid those of my squad."

"...you know, you say that a lot, but I think deep down beneath all that presumed indifference there is still some kindness motivating you." Tanjiro admitted.

Kanao raised an eyebrow, and paused for a moment then, "...maybe...but there are things even I don't need a coin toss to decide on, Tanjiro."

Tanjiro chuckled briefly, "I guess you're right." He then paused as he seemed to realize something, "...wait, did you just make a joke?"

Having that pointed out to her, Kanao suddenly felt her cheeks grow a bit warmer for some reason, "...I tried to make it sound somewhat humorous." She admitted, "Was it...funny?"

"Well, it's a great start," Tanjiro told her with an encouraging smile, at which she couldn't help but to have the corner of her lips twitch into something just a bit more genuine than her own usual placid smile.

If truth be told, things seemed to have changed a lot for Kanao in the short time the other Senses had spent in the Butterfly Estate. Since that day where they had their first spar and she'd join the training, Tanjiro, in particular, had been encouraging her greatly to act out more on her thoughts and feelings rather than relying on a coin. It had been quite hard for her to get used to such an extreme and sudden change, but she hadn't used her coin once to decide something for her since that day, and despite how much of a challenge getting used to that again had been, moments like this had proved to feel very rewarding for Kanao. She silently wondered if her sister had caught onto that change and if that was why she'd insisted on sending her along for this mission.

Regardless, time soon went by, and the setting sun sunk into the horizon to give way to night. A few more hours and they would thus begin approaching their destination, the forested peak of Natagumo Mountain threateningly towering ahead of the Senses just a few miles ahead of them. As soon as it had come into view, not a single one of them commented a word about it, but the atmosphere in the group had evidently changed as a mixture of tension and expectation filled the air at the inevitable battle they were all rushing towards. And as the mountain ahead of them grew larger in their approach, so did that feeling present between them.

Finally, the tense silence would be broken by Zenitsu of all people as, with them finally beginning to approach the base of the Mountain, he'd suddenly perk up, "...I hear two people some distance ahead." He noted.

Tanjiro seemed to sniff at the air before he narrowed his eyes, "...not people. One is a demon." He informed them, breathing in, "I'll go on ahead, you guys catch up."

"What do you mean go on-" Genya was interrupted when Tanjiro suddenly rushed off in an immense burst of speed, leaving only a cloud of dust behind as he soon disappeared from their line of sight entirely, "...damn. He's fast."

Kanao pursed her lips silently, knowing she probably couldn't catch up with him in a straight dash like that, meaning it was pointless to even try. The best course of action then was to up her pace, but stay with the other members of the group. Whatever it was that lay ahead of them, she was sure Tanjiro could handle it at least until they got there.

* * *

Murata had, no doubt about it, been having what could only be described as the worst day of his life. First, his entire team minus him was taken down by a Lower Moon, and while initially, he thought all of them being taken out non-fatally was odd for a demon, it made a lot more sense when he realized they'd all become puppets to what could only be another demon, not in control in their own bodies and forced to hunt him down.

Because of his own puppet turned teammates, he'd been trapped in Natagumo for the last day with a fairly bad wound on his sword arm of which all he could do was staunch the bleeding by ripping out a sleeve off his Demon Slayer garbs and wrapping it around the gash. Somehow, the demon had also managed to control his teammates during the day as well, and his one attempt to descend the mountain had nearly ended up with him killed by Ozakis's and Fumito's blades. Luckily he'd managed to hide again, and had only managed to sneak past them as night fell.

Of course, this came with its own series of problems, as though the night gave him the advantage of covering himself with its darkness, it also had demons that could roam freely without fearing the burning sunlight. This became a problem rather quickly as, not long after he'd managed to sneak past his teammates and began running down Natagumo, he'd begin being pursued by someone, by something. And though it was too dark to see exactly what it was, he could hear the footsteps behind him, and see the outline of someone running after him, someone who got closer every time he glanced over his shoulder.

This went on with him trying to outrun his pursuer, until something suddenly tugged at his feet and caused him to lose balance, falling down on the ground face first. Grunting, he'd turn around and see the demon who'd been chasing him emerging from the shadows. It was another girl, but not the same one as before. She had white hair, and a pale complexion, with dots on her face and an almost completely white robe with the exception of a spiderweb pattern in her midsection.

"So you're the Demon Slayer who's been giving Mother's puppets so much trouble..." The demon mused, approaching him threateningly, "You sure were hard to find...but you're done running now."

"S-stay back!," Murata exclaimed, struggling to get back on his feet quickly and reaching out to draw his blade, only for the demon to lurch her hand forward, releasing a thick white robe-like substance that attached itself to his arm and dragged the Demon Slayer closer than her. In that brief moment, Murata would realize that this was the same thing she'd probably used in knocking him off his feet, before having a kick slammed onto his gut and being roughly sent flying back-first into a tree.

Murata grunted after hitting the ground, dazed as he sat up with difficulty, only to notice another strand of the substance, this one attached to the hilt on his sword. Before he could react, the demon tugged at it again and had his katana yanked out of its scabbard, with her catching it by the hilt. Unarmed and hurt, he could only watch fearfully as the demon availed curiously the weapon she held, "Maybe I could take this for myself...be more like her." She mused thoughtfully, before turning to Murata, "And what a better way to start than to use this blade in taking down its previous owner...?"

Before Murata could even reply, he'd be rushed by the demon, his own blade moving to be stabbed right through him. Currently sitting with his back against a tree, there was little he could do to dodge. His only option seemed to close his eyes and wait for the inevitable impaling that was about to happen. Except, rather than being mortally wounded, he'd feel something suddenly dragging him to the side to narrowly evade the blade. He'd open his eyes right before he was sent sprawling across the ground from the sudden pull of something moving very fast, and the only thing he'd be able to see in that brief moment was a blur of red.

* * *

The Spider Sister blinked in confusion as one moment, she was stabbing her newly gained katana into the bothersome Demon Slayer Rui had ordered her to hunt down and dispose of, the next the blade was halfway stabbed through the tree trunk he'd been leaning against just a moment ago. She dragged the sword out of the tree before hearing a grunt to the side and turning to look.

She would be met by the back of a red-cloaked and matching haired swordsman standing in between himself and the Demon Slayer. As the figure turned around to glare over at her, she'd see his red eyes and the hanafuda earrings he wore, as well as the sword sheathed on his waist, "_...another Demon Slayer...? Though he isn't dressed like one._" The Sister thought, "_This one seems different...I gotta be careful._"

The red-clad Demon Slayer didn't say a single word, nor tried to hide the animosity in his glare, only silently reaching out to wrap a hand around his katana's hilt. Knowing better than to try and fight against Demon Slayer with a katana though, the Sister chose to play smart and suddenly threw the sword, but not towards the new Demon Slayer, but rather straight at the one who she'd already taken down and was just now regaining his bearings as he sat up.

Despite that, the swordsman noticed what she was aiming for and quickly spun around while rushing to the side, managing to reach out with his arm to barely catch the thrown katana in between the tip of his middle and index fingers. The Spider Sister, however, took that as her chance and quickly used her web to enclose and wrap around the Slayer's torso, forcing him to drop the barely caught katana on the ground. Managing to entangle him, she then decided her best move was to finish this Demon Slayer off before he could get a chance to free himself.

"Demon Blood Art: Acid Coccoon!" She declared, releasing thick sprays of webbing from her wrist that, in moments, wrapped the Demon Slayer around a round cocoon of web similar to a ball of yarn. Grinning, she lowered her hands and approached the cocoon smugly. After all, there was no Demon Slayer that could escape her Demon Blood Art, no one she'd ever seen at least. Their swords simply weren't sharp enough to cut through her thick malleable webbing. In no time, this one too would have their flesh dissolved and made his body soft, leaving him perfect for her to feed on. Until then...well, she'd take her time with the first Demon Slayer.

The Sister's thoughts though would be interrupted when she felt a sudden change in the air. For whatever reason, all of a sudden, it'd suddenly gotten...warmer. And then, not a moment later, the cocoon would be cut open from the inside as stream of fire suddenly caused it to burst apart clean in the middle, burning away at the web and falling apart at both sides to reveal the half-shadowed visage of the Demon Slayer standing inside of it, his blade bursting with bright flames across its edge. She only had a moment to widen her eyes in shock and fear as he disappeared altogether from her sight, and before she could even wonder where he'd gone off to, a burning sensation was felt across her whole neck as her head was separated from her body, the red-clad swordsman silently stepping past her with the flames fading from his blackened katana as he sheathed it away.

Her body hit the ground dully as he head rolled away from it with a fixed expression of shock, "_He...he got me...but how? How did he cut through my cocoon? How did he move so fast...?_" She wondered as she began disintegrating from the neck up. But it didn't matter. Of course it didn't, all that mattered was that he'd gotten her, and now she was going to die.

It made her sad, but not because she was dying. Rather, because of how meaningless and empty it all seemed at this point. She couldn't remember her time as a human, she could barely remember her time before the family. She didn't even remember a name other than Sister of which she could go by, and in the time she'd had that name, her life had almost entirely been misery and loneliness at the hands of her 'family'...except...for her.

It was odd, seeing as she'd only known Chihime for a couple of weeks, and they had only exchanged one actual conversation in the previous night. But the Lower Moon had saved her, and actually treated her with an ounce of kindness unlike anyone else in the Spider Family. Sitting beside her at the rooftop watching the sky had been not only the safest she had felt for a long time but looking back on it, it was also the happiest.

If there was one thing she'd wished she could have done above all others, it was getting just a bit more time to spend with the Lower Moon Demon. She was probably up there watching the stars at that very moment, and the Sister really wished she'd been able to join her instead of being sent out to deal with the Demon Slayer. She really wished she could just go back up the mountain and sit beside her again for a few more peaceful hours, but it seemed like it wasn't meant to be, "...I just wish I'd gotten to actually befriend you...Chihime..." Were her last muttered words before she faded to ash entirely.

* * *

"_Chihime...?_" Tanjiro wondered silently with a raised eyebrow, having managed to briefly overhear the demon muttering something at her final moments, though the only thing he'd really caught was that odd name. Shaking his head and storing that info in the back of his mind for later reference, he'd then turn to the still startled Demon Slayer sitting injured in the corner staring at him nervously, "Are you okay there?"

"Who...who are you..?" The young man inquired nervously. Fair enough too, since Tanjiro didn't even wear the Demon Slayer garbs like everyone else, so for someone uninformed he might as well just be some kid with a sword.

"Tanjiro Kamado, Demon Slayer of the rank Kinoe." He introduced himself, raising his clenched fist to reveal the engraved wisteria marking of his rank located on the back of his hand. "I take it you're one of the Demon Slayers first sent out to Natagumo?"

"Yeah..." The young man affirmed, seeming more relieved now that Tanjiro made it clear he was indeed a Demon Slayer, and one with high rank at that, "though I'm the only one left now."

The Kinoe narrowed his eyes, "Were they all killed?"

"No...they're all alive, but..." He sighed, and Tanjiro could only look at the young man in confusion, "I guess it's best I just explain it from the start...my name is Murata, I'm a Demon Slayer of the Kanoe rank. I was selected alongside seven other Slayers led by a Kinoto to investigate Natagumo Mountain for demons. Before we could even start ascending it though...she appeared."

Murata's expression shifted as he said that last part and Tanjiro could see the genuine fear in his eyes at that moment, "Who's she?"

"...a Lower Moon Demon." He explained, and the younger Demon Slayer would narrow his eyes, "It was unlike anything I've seen before. She had a sword...and fought like a Demon Slayer."

Tanjiro blinked, "Like...a Demon Slayer...?"

Murata nodded, "She outmatched every single one our swordsmen, and even took out the squad leader, knocking out every single one of them, with only me managing to escape. At first, I was confused by her not killing anyone, but I would later realize their bodies were being controlled like living puppets by what I can only assume to be another demon. It tried to use them to hunt me down, but I managed to bide my time and get past them, but that other demon managed to catch up to me and...that's when you appeared."

Tanjiro took all that in, processing it slowly. A demon with a sword was rare, but not unheard of. Lower Moon Six Kamanue, as he so recalled, could turn both his arms into blades and fight similarly to a swordsman, but that was not the same thing as fighting like a Demon Slayer. Demon Slayers fought with katana, with skill and precision, with breathing techniques. He never even imagined a demon being able to use the last one, but if that truly was the case as Murata described, and so it seemed given how many Demon Slayers this swordswoman demon took down without even needing to use lethal force. And not only that, but besides the sword-wielding Lower Moon Five, he'd already confirmed two demons present in the mountain between the one he just killed and the one controlling the other Slayers as puppets. Who knows how many more there really were in total. This truly was the worst-case scenario...

Before he could even address Murata again though, he'd suddenly feel a set of very familiar smells approaching, and he'd look off to the side before the other members of the Five Senses came into view, soon reaching him and Murata. "So...did you manage to deal with the demon?" Zenitsu inquired, nervously looking around.

"...yeah." He said quietly, looking down for a moment, before turning back to his companions with a dire look in his face, "But it looks like the situation is worse than I thought." From then on, he'd relay the info he'd gotten from Murata back to his friends as well as his own thoughts on it, and their responses were, much as expected, quite varied.

Inosuke, of course, seemed delighted at the news, "HAHAHAHA! So it's a demon Demon Slayer slayer! Now that's a demon worth slaying!" He declared, showcasing his rich vocabulary.

Kanao looked suddenly more serious than usual, seeming to really understand the weight of the situation, "This is not good...we'll really have to approach this situation cautiously."

Genya, panting still after running for so long without the aid of breath styles, seemed a mix of nervous and annoyed, muttering something along the lines of, "A demon that can use breathing techniques...isn't that great...?"

And then there was Zenitsu. His reaction was also rather expected, and for once Tanjiro really couldn't blame the blond for how scared he looked, trembling nervously with his eyes darting left to right as if trying to spot a demon. He didn't say anything as opposed to others, but to be honest, he really didn't have to in order to communicate how he felt.

"Alright, given the information we got from Murata here, I think the best way to deal with the situation at hand is to start by focusing on rescuing the Slayers this demon took hostage as puppets." Tanjiro informed the others, "Once we do that, we can begin making our way up the mountain."

"Wait, you guys can't be serious!" Murata exclaimed nervously, earning the attention of all the Five Senses, "You all can't still really be thinking of going up the mountain after what I just told you! One demon alone managed to take out a squad larger than yours with no difficulty whatsoever, and who knows what other kinds of monsters could be up there! We gotta leave this place now and call for someone stronger to handle this, like a Pillar or-"

Before he could even finish talking, however, an angered Inosuke suddenly strode in his direction and suddenly pulled Murata up by his collar, slamming his back against the trunk of a tree, staring him down intently from behind the glassy eyes of his boar mask, "We don't need advice from the kind of trash who'd run off on his own team."

Murata blinked, surprised at the accusation, "I didn't run off! They were all captured, I had no choice but-"

"And that gives you an excuse to abandon them now?" Inosuke asked, leaving the Demon Slayer without a reply, "Yeah, thought so. Only a weakling would do something so cowardly as to run when his companions are still up there, alive, waiting for the only hope they got left as far as they're concerned…that's you. And you wanna run away." He dropped Murata back down on the ground, "Fucking pathetic."

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes, and while he couldn't endorse Inosuke's methods, he also didn't fully disagree with the boar headed boy's general idea. It was surprising though that something like this would come from him, but then again his self-declared-rival was still the one he'd interacted with the least amidst the Senses despite being the first one he'd met, so he supposed there were still surprises to be had. Looking around, he could also see that despite sharing in some of his surprise at Inosuke's reproaching speech, none of them looked as if they'd disagreed with it. Zenitsu, in particular, was looking away with harsh yet thoughtful eyes narrowed silently, the smell of shame in him making clear to Tanjiro that the blond had taken those words too close to heart.

"...well, he's right about one thing. We really can't leave those Demon Slayers behind to die. If they're still alive, then we've got to go up there and save them." Tanjiro declared, not one of them speaking up against him, not even Murata who now was shamefully staring down at his lap, at least until he was addressed by the red-clad Slayer, "Murata, how hurt are you?"

He narrowed his eyes, but replied quietly a moment later, "...I've got a pretty nasty cut on my arm from the fight with the sword-wielding demon, plus I'm pretty sure the one you killed also manage to hurt me pretty badly before you got here." He admitted, "All my comrades up there, probably fearing for their lives, and here I am, barely able to get up and ready to abandon them for my own safety...your boar friend is right, it is pretty pathetic."

"Don't worry about it, none of this is your fault. We'll handle this and save your teammates." Tanjiro reassured him before turning over to Kanao, "Kanao, you're the closest we have to a medic. Can you patch up his wounds while the rest of us go up ahead to handle the situation? We'll come back down once we've rescued the Demon Slayers, but if we don't by the time you're finished, you can just run on ahead and catch up to us."

Kanao nodded silently, and Zenitsu looked nervously at her for a moment as if wondering if he should ask to stay behind with Murata too, but the effects of Inosuke's words must've still been fresh on his mind since he chose to remain silent after all. Speaking of which, the boar-headed-boy growled and raised his already drawn swords ready for a fight, "Alright, come on, let's get going! There's a whole mountain's worth of demons waiting to be killed!"

"Yeah, we have no time to waste." Tanjiro nodded, staring at the pathway up the mountain, "Let's get moving."With that said, four of the Five Senses would move out again, leaving Kanao behind with Murata as she began working on his injuries.

As they began going up the mountain again, Tanjiro would fall back slightly so to get next to Zenitsu, "What Inosuke said back there, you know that doesn't apply to you, don't you?"

The blond blinked then, looking surprised at having been read so easily, but that quickly faded as he looked down somewhat remorsefully, "...you say that but we both know I'm not the bravest one out there, Tanjiro...why are you so sure I won't do like that guy and turn tail if the situation gets too bad?"

Tanjiro looked at his friend then as if he'd just asked the stupidest question, "Well...that's easy," He said as if it was obvious, "it's because you didn't. Don't you remember? You could've easily left me to fight off both that Lower Moon and his subordinate by myself, but even though we barely knew each other, you chose to come back and risk your life to help me out. If you'd just run away and I had to handle it all by myself...I'd be dead now, Zenitsu. No doubt about it."

"...huh. I guess I forgot about that." Zenitsu admitted surprisedly, only now, with Murata's situation side by side for him to compare it too, seeming to only then realize how brave he'd been back at Kaigara.

"When I say you're too hard on yourself, it's not just to make you feel better. I really mean it." Tanjiro reiterated, "Deep down, I know you're actually a capable Demon Slayer, Zenitsu. Hell, if you managed to control your fear, I bet you could get even stronger than me."

"Let's not go crazy now..." Zenitsu chuckled briefly, seeming a lot more relaxed compared to how he was acting just moments ago, which actually made Tanjiro smile slightly.

"Not to interrupt the sweet moment, but maybe you should be keeping a better eye on our surroundings, no?" Genya noted bluntly from the back of the group.

"Relax, if anything comes up, my nose will-" He caught himself mid-sentence as, at that very moment, his nose would indeed catch onto something, and he'd sudden;l halt his dash, "Stop." Tanjiro called out, calmly but decisively, making his entire group halt with him even the eager Inosuke.

"What?! Did you smell any demons?!" the boar headed boy asked vigorously.

"...no." Tanjiro responded direly, taking a hold of his katana's hilt as shadows suddenly began to emerge from the darkness of the forest, "Not demons."

Sure enough, the six shadows that emerged from the forest were not demons, but rather Demon Slayers. Dirtied, bloodied and tired obviously, but still Demon Slayers, all holding their own katana already drawn, with the sole exception of the tall and muscular man with the brown cloak, who instead wielded a Kusarigama. This, from presence alone, Tanjiro discerned was the Kinoto who'd led Murata's group.

"Help us..." One of the Slayers, a girl with a ponytail, groaned painfully.

"So tired..." Another one, a sandy blond boy, muttered, seeming on the verge of collapse

"Someone...someone's controlling us." The Kinoto managed to mutter with a grunt, "Don't get too close...it'll make us attack you."

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of here alive, I promise." Tanjiro declared, drawing his blade, an example Genya and Zenitsu followed by unsheathing their respective swords, while Inosuke readied his already drawn weapons, "Not like I need to say it, but we mustn't use lethal force against them. Our best chance is to knock them out hurting them as little as possible."

"If I knew that, I'd have brought some of those wooden swords we were using to train..." Inosuke grunted, "It'd be a blast to smash some of those on their heads too."

"Try not to do that with those jagged swords of yours." Genya advised ironically, raising his kodachi, "Wouldn't be a very pretty sight to see, in all honesty."

"Maybe we should be more worried about them hurting us than us hurting them..." Zenitsu advised, obviously nervous, but not backing down as he held his katana with a two-handed grip.

Their exchange was cut short as four of the seven Demon Slayers moved in at them, and the Senses rushed to intercept them, raising their blades to block their attackers' weapons. Tanjiro would only exchange a few blows with his opponent before locking their katana together, grabbing his foe's blade by the blunt side with one hand while the other used his own sword's hilt to slam onto his foe's wrist and disarm him. Taking his weapon by the blade, Tanjiro quickly stepped back and shifted it into a proper grip before moving in, now dual-wielding both katana as he feinted at his opponent and, in his wrongful dodge, moved to knock him out with a clean blow with a katana hilt to his temple that had the Demon Slayer down on the ground in moments.

Tanjiro stepped past his downed attacker and was about to confront the three Demon Slayers that had stayed behind while the others rushed in when something suddenly grabbed at his ankle. He turned to look down, and widened his eyes when he saw the Demon Slayer he'd just knocked out, eyes still closed and with clearly no conscience left in him, and yet still crawling to attack him.

Shocked, the boy would take a brief look around at his comrades, and he would see much of the same. Inosuke would attack brutally and outright snap one of the Demon Slayer's katana in between his two jagged swords before body-slamming his foe hard enough to send him flying a couple of yards. And yet, upon landing, the Slayer would just get back up, as if nothing had happened, and charge off towards the boar-headed boy again. Genya would grab an opponent's arm mid-blade-lock and knee him in the gut, causing the Demon Slayer to keel forward and allowing the scarred boy to bring down an elbow at the back of his head. And yet, again did they rise. Even the panicking Zenitsu managed to duck under one of his opponent's swings and slashed then at the heel while he moved past the Demon Slayer, and yet the other swordsman didn't even stagger as he turned to move at the blond again when by all means he should be unable to even stand.

"_...so that's what this is. Whoever is doing this, is not manipulating their actions, but the body itself. No matter how much we hurt them or try to knock them out, the body will just keep coming."_ Tanjiro thought, pulling his leg to force the unconscious demon slayer to let go of him, "_This is bad...but there must be a way of taking these guys down without hurting them_."

Before he could think any further, he would be alerted by his nose of the two quickly rushing Demon Slayers that hadn't moved in before, their red and green blades drawn and ready to strike him. Tanjiro would raise both his and the stolen katana to defend himself from the two attacking Demon Slayers. From the first strike he blocked, he would realize these two were stronger than the other Slayers, probably a few ranks above, but nothing his improvised dual-wielding couldn't keep at bay until he figured out a solution to this whole dilemma.

Despite his attention being split between the two swordsmen attacking him, he'd soon have a third opponent to focus on when a chain attached to a scythe ar its end flew out from the darkness aiming to slash through both the Demon Slayers as well as Tanjiro, he noticed what was happening soon enough to react however as he deflected two incoming katana slashes in quick succession, before simultaneously slamming both his weapons' hilts on the Demon Slayer's heads to knock them down to the ground. He then jumped at the last moment to narrowly evade the scythe's blade while guaranteeing the two others were too low to be caught in it, spinning midair and landing on his feet.

"_Great...so they're also not unconcerned with attacking one another. This just makes things more complicated._" He thought, backing up to open some distance from the kusarigama wielding Kinoto, and would get a glimpse of Inosuke bending his body to dodge a katana slash, causing the blade to instead cut a gash across the chest of another Slayer attacking him, "_We gotta do something about this quick, or else they'll just end up killing each other before we can even save them._"

The two Demon Slayer chased him and began attacking once again, forcing him to return to his defensive fighting. This time, however, two more Demon Slayers would rush in to join them, putting Tanjiro on the defense against four swordsmen at once. Whoever was controlling them seemed to have identified him as the biggest threat, and was thus focusing the numbers on him accordingly. However his Forescent training, despite the cringe-worthy name catching on with his peers much to his chagrin, proved to really pay off in the situation, seeing as he would've been impaled much earlier hadn't he smelled many of those attacks coming.

Even then, it wasn't like his problems were solved by that, evidenced by the Kinoto swinging in the weighted end of his kusarigama at a momentarily distracted Zenitsu, with Tanjiro not noticing in time to warn him. His friend was nearly struck in the head with deadly force, but fortunately, Genya ran in and took a tight hold of the chain, stopping the weight inches from cracking the blond's skull open, something he became very aware of given his pale complexion and his wide-eyed stare at the weapon. That was not all however as the Kinoto tugged at the chain harshly, dragging Genya closer while swinging down the bladed end of his weapon down at the boy. This time though, Zenitsu was the one who retributed the favor and jumped in for the save with great speed, swinging his blade at the last moment in midair to deflect the scythe and cause it to only narrowly miss his comrade.

Tanjiro was relieved to see the other Senses had each other's backs but had his own problems to deal with. He pushed one of the Slayers away with a kick, blocking two other blades and dribbling past the final one's slash in order to escape all the four Demon Slayers and jump back. He was cautiously considering his next actions when he widened his eyes, suddenly alerted by his Forescent of an attack from behind, and he'd spin around to cut down his opponent. He would be surprised, however, when his blade seemingly slashed at nothing, and yet something small fell to the ground at his feet. Tanjiro looked down and would widen his eyes as she saw a white spider quickly scurrying away. Pausing silently, he'd raise his arm and swung it at what seemed to be empty air only for him to feel something very thin but resistant string touching it, sticking to his wrist. A moment later and his arm would jerk upwards out of his control unexpectedly. He widened his eyes and slashed with his other sword to cut the thread yet again and release himself as it was finally made clear to him what was really happening there.

"Guys, be careful! The Demon is controlling them through spider threads like puppets! If a spider manages to attach their thread to you, you'll be controlled too!" Tanjiro quickly announced to the other Senses."Especially you, Genya!" He added then, and though the buzzcut haired boy grimaced at that, he didn't speak out against it, which must've meant he understood Tanjiro's line of thought. After all, just like he had his sense of smell to aid him, Inosuke had his incredibly sensitive skin and Zenitsu had his enhanced hearing, which would all make sure they could react before any spider even landed on them. Genya did not have such an advantage, however, and so he had to be extra careful.

Thinking like that made Tanjiro also wish Kanao was here. Just like she had seen through that Demon Assassin's Blood Art the first time they met, she could've probably noticed the incredibly thin strings manipulating the Demon Slayers much earlier than him. Regardless, there was no point in focusing on hypotheticals. After all, now that he knew how this puppeteering demon's technique worked, he at least had an idea of how to handle it.

Tanjiro would move in towards the Demon Slayers dashing at him, now only two remaining of the original four as Inosuke and Zenitsu had intercepted the first two. They rushed at him regardless, and Tanjiro would block the first one's blade and knock it aside with his second katana, throwing him off balance and allowing the boy to easily trip his opponent. He then crossed both swords to intercept the second one's strike and held down his blade in order to close in and give the Demon Slayer one of Tanjiro's infamous hard as hell headbutts that had him too in the ground in no time.

With the two Demon Slayers down, they would quickly begin to get back up, only for Tanjiro to slash at what seemed to be empty air at first, yet the snapping sound confirmed his suspicions as both the Demon Slayers fell back down to the ground midway through getting up, the threads controlling them finally cut. His fellow Senses quickly took note of what was happening and realized what Tanjiro had done, thus beginning to replicate it, quickly disposing of their opponent's too by cutting the threads controlling them.

Tanjiro, meanwhile, with his theory proven right, moved his attention over to his real target, dashing in straight at the Kusarigama wielding Kinoto that had proven so troublesome to deal with so far. As expected, he would throw in the large weight at the end of his chain towards the boy, but Tanjiro managed to jump in time to narrowly dodge it, spinning midair in order to be directly above the chain while facing it down before thrusting his borrowed katana at it, having the blade slide right through one of the links and stab itself into the ground, stopping the kusarigama's chain fully. He would then step down on the sword to thrust it deeper into the ground in order to properly anchor the chain, thus allowing him to start running across its thin length and towards its wielder. Though the Kinoto tried waving the chain in order to break Tanjiro's balance and have him fall off, the boy had already jumped by then, and flipped over his opponent, slashing his threads midair before smoothly landing on the ground, his released opponent collapsing on the ground behind him.

Taking a deep breath, he finally allowed himself to calm down somewhat seeing as the situation was finally dealt with. Now all they would have to do is cut down the remaining Demon Slayers and they could move their attention to the demon behind this. Except he'd let his guard down too soon, as evidenced by the loud, "SHIT!" He heard when Genya was caught by surprise at one of the rising Demon Slayers slashing him across the chest, though luckily it was the one whose blade had been broken by Inosuke earlier, so the little remaining of the blade didn't cut too deeply while Genya backed away safely.

The other downed Demon Slayers too began rising soon enough, momentarily confusing Tanjiro, until he realized the obvious, "._..of course, as long as the spiders are around, they'll just reattach those strings and have them continue fighting._" He silently cursed at his own stupidity in frustration, before pausing, "_Wait, if they're getting back up, that means..._"

His forescent confirmed what he suspected as Tanjiro turned around just in time to intercept the Kusarigama's scythe with his own blade once again, its wielder rising back to his feet with his threads reattached. Frowning, Tanjiro dodged another swing of his chain before jumping back, "If the demon's gonna play that way though, I guess I'll have to cut those threads in a way they can't reattach." He thought, rushing across the small battlefield and taking the attention of the rising Demon Slayers as they all began moving after him, "Guys, cover for me!" He called out to his comrades, and they did as requested, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Genya all jumping in between Tanjiro and the controlled Slayers to halt their dash, allowing him to turn around, sheathing his blade back into his scabbard and closing his eyes.

"_The Breath of the Sun is a powerful style, one with capabilities even I don't understand fully._" Tanjiro remembered his master once telling him, "_It seems to draw out the very essence of the sunlight present in Nichirin to fuel its flames, giving it the power to combat demons in ways other styles simply cannot. Cutting through them is not the only thing it does after all. In certain cases, it seems to affect their abilities as well._"

"_Well...it worked against those temari...so it's worth a try._" Tanjiro thought, shifting his footing and inhaling deeply, "Breath of the Sun, Sixth Dance..." He announced, drawing his blade slightly out of his scabbard as its flames shone brightly in the dark forest, before he disappeared entirely, only to reappear some fifty feet away from where he was, moving past both his allies and the controlled Demon Slayers in the blink of an eye as he lowered his still flaming blade, "...High-Noon Flare." In a moment, flames burst seemingly out of thin air over the controlled Demon Slayer's heads, burning the threads to ash and causing them to collapse before spreading out throughout the rest of web and burning down every single one of the spiders threading across it, as well as continuing to burn in their way up the mountain, probably towards where the demon controlling them all was.

In a normal situation, he would use that chance to chase off after the demon, but with the released Demon Slayers injured and collapsed, he thought best to see to their wellbeing and get them somewhere safe before continuing their way up the mountain. That said, he would only make a silent note on the direction those flames were headed before sheathing away his sword and striding to the downed Demon Slayers, which Genya and Zenitsu were already checking on while Inosuke grunted with his arms crossed nearby, impatient to continue with the demon-hunting. "How are they doing?" Tanjiro asked as he walked up to them.

"They seem fine...hurt and tired, not to mention completely unconscious, but I think they'll survive." Genya admitted, before staring over to Tanjiro, "Still, what exactly was it that you did back there? I've never seen a Breath Technique like that..."

"It's...complicated." Tanjiro admitted, scratching the side of his head somewhat awkwardly, "I'll explain it to you later. For now, we should probably focus on getting these guys back down the mountain."

"Well...there's seven of them and four of us, so either we each take two of them or we'll have to do two trips." Zenitsu calculated, "The Kusarigama guy looks heavier than the rest, so I could drag him alone while you guys each take two."

"HAH! I bet I can take all of them at once!" Inosuke declared boldly, seeming more interested in the whole thing now that it could be viewed as a competition.

"...you really shouldn't push yourself like that, Inosuke..." Tanjiro pointed out but was at least relieved things had seemed to end up well. He stepped in, looking through the Demon Slayers wondering which of the two he should pick up. And that is when he felt the smell, and he froze.

Something was wrong.

Though he couldn't make out much of the smell given how faint it was, he knew down to his very core that something was terribly wrong. After a brief look at the downed Demon Slayers, he'd realize something that he hadn't been able to make out in the heat of battle, and that was that all of them had very pronounced scratch marks on the side of their necks. Just then, the smell would become a bit stronger, just strong enough for him to recognize the scent of a demon mixed within it, and realize that the smell was coming from the Demon Slayer's downed bodies.

He didn't even have the time to cry out for Genya and Zenitsu to get away from the bodies before it happened, as every single one of the seven unconscious Demon Slayer suddenly burst into overwhelming purple flames. Luckily, Inosuke must've sensed the heat increase a moment sooner than himself, and manage to move in and drag both the boys away from the bodies before they all exploded into purple fire, but it still left every single one of them in a state of shock as, in a moment, every single one of the people they'd worked so hard to save had their lives consumed in a controlled inferno without as much as a single scream.

The wind would suddenly shift then, and Tanjiro's shock would be momentarily swayed when he felt the smell switch with it. He turned his head to the side to look up, and that was when he saw her. Standing atop a tall tree branch, her closed fist extended forward, was a demon. She wore a dark blue haori, with clothes underneath styled similar to those of a Demon Slayer and long brown hair reaching her waist, her face hidden behind a mask and a sword sheathed at her waist. It only took a moment after actually seeing her for him to realize two things: this was the demon that had taken down the entire group in the first place, and she was the one who'd just killed them.

Numbing shock gave way to burning anger, and Tanjiro didn't say a single word as he stepped away from his team, gripping his katana hilt tightly and taking a deep breath. He crouched slightly, focusing his strength on his legs, before he suddenly rocketed off the ground, finally getting the other Senses' attention. The demon reacted, jumping off the tree branch and over the treetops, but Tanjiro used the same branch as a platform to jump again and reached her regardless, drawing his blade intent on cutting her down in midair. Except, as he aimed to decapitate the demon, she'd draw her own sword almost faster than he could react and raise it to intercept his own.

Demon and Demon Slayer held their respective violet and black blades in a tight midair lock under the bright light of a full moon. Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Tanjiro noted the moonlight shining through the eyeholes of the catlike mask she wore, the Lower Moon Five symbol clear to see in her right eye. That, however, was not what shocked him. Rather, it was the finally registering smell that he didn't expect, and had him frozen for a moment. This though was enough for the demon to break the lock of their blades, bringing her katana down on him. Though he managed to block, the power behind it was enough to send him flying back down at high speeds. He'd try to grab onto a tree branch mid-fall, but his momentum was such the branch broke almost immediately. Still, it slowed him down to roll upon landing and get back on a knee.

The demon, meanwhile, only landed on another tree branch. She looked down at the group of Demon Slayers for another moment before sheathing away her blade and simply disappearing in a burst of speed just as suddenly as she'd appeared. "Whoa, what was that!" Zenitsu inquired in surprise, racing up to besides Tanjiro, "I think it's gone, but...are you okay, Tan-"

The blond cut himself short when he turned to look at his friend and saw in him a face none of the Senses had ever been privy to in the time they'd known him. With sweat pouring down the side of his head, Tanjiro looked absolutely terrified as he stared down at the ground wide-eyed, surprising al three other Demon Slayers present, "_That smell...what was that smell...?_" He asked himself, feeling his body shake, "_It had the normal smell of a demon, but mixed beneath it there's something else...something...familiar._"

Tanjiro would be unable to focus on his thoughts for so long before Genya called out, "Hey...is everything alright there, Tanjiro?" He asked, and as the boy turned to look at his comrades, he would notice all of them were staring at him worriedly. Even Inosuke, though trying to hide it, had a certain nervous smell about him.

Seeing that he nodded, taking a moment to breathe in deeply and recompose himself somewhat before rising, "...we'll be going our separate ways now." He said simply, surprising them all, "Me and Inosuke are chasing after the swordswoman demon, Genya and Zenitsu meanwhile will deal with the puppeteering demon."

"...you sure that's a good idea, Tanjiro?" Zenitsu inquired hesitantly, "Wouldn't it be safer if we all moved together as to have each other's backs? It's bad enough that we had to leave Kanao behind already, after all"

"...maybe. But Kanao can catch up, and I just can't let that demon run off like that." He told them in a tone that left little argument, pointing off in a direction leading up the mountain before any of them could say anything else, "That's where he the threads were leading to, so it's probably the direction your demon is located in."

Genya and Zenitsu both looked like they wanted to discuss this further, but after exchanging a brief glance, both only nodded to each other before moving off together in the direction Tanjiro had pointed them off to. "As for you..." He turned then to look at Inosuke, "Just try and keep up."

"HAHAHAHA! You don't need to tell ME that! Honestly, I could easily outrun you if I really-" He was cut short when Tanjiro, without even waiting for him to finish, took a breath and dashed off to follow after the smell of the sword-wielding demon, "Hey, wait up you bastard!" The boar headed boy called out annoyedly before chasing off after Tanjiro and up their way into Natagumo Mountain.

* * *

The demon known as the Spider Mother was quite annoyed with the latest turn of events. She'd been left in a clearing deep into the forest where not even sunlight reached and made to control those Demon Slayers Chihime had provided for her use. The idea was to use those as bait and have another group of Demon Slayers come after them, only to take them down when they arrived to rescue their captured comrades. She'd even kept them mostly unharmed, which worked wonders since it allowed her to make the best out of them as puppets with her threads, especially given the slight developments of her Demon Blood Art resulted from Rui having fed all the members of the Spider Family some more of his blood after his own ascension as Lower Moon Four.

And yet, when the Slayers took the bait and sent out another group to rescue the first one, she wouldn't have expected in a million years for things to take a turn like they did. One moment she was just controlling the puppets, sending them after the red-clad boy that seemed to lead the other Demon Slayers, and in the next, the Mother had been suddenly cut out from her puppets before odd flames suddenly consumed the threads she'd been manipulating them with and even left a burning pain in her hands despite the fire not leaving behind a single mark.

Regardless, she knew they would be heading towards her soon to try and finish the job. She could try and run away, but that would mean confronting Rui about her failure of capturing the Slayers, not to mention losing the ones she'd already captured. No...her best chance was to stay and fight, give them everything she had to beat them down. After all, she still had one more secret weapon up her sleeve, and with a few tugs at her threads and a wicked grin, she'd have it summoned, before sending out her strongest puppet in its way, ready to intercept the incoming Demon Slayers.

**A/N: So, with this chapter, I reach the mark of 160k words. That makes this currently the longest story in the Kimetsu no Yaiba section of FanFiction the site, beating Novirp13's all-reigning fic Colors of the World. Granted, I take it about 50k of those words are Author's note and your own reviews, but even the Ao3 version where I remove the latter is about 120k words long, which is bigger than the earlier Harry Potter books. All that is kinda funny for me, because I am barely getting started with this. After all, just like in Canon, you can kinda measure how close we are to the Endgame by the number of Demon Moons taken down so far, which currently stands as one out of twelve, baring any possible replacements to the emptied ranks. Which means, yeah, long way to go, still. **

**With this chapter, we start the extremely important Natagumo Mountain Arc which, as I imagine you all already realized by now, will be extremely different from Canon. Just for starters, pretty much every single character is at least a bit stronger, the demons due to receiving an extra dose of blood and the Demon Slayers due to the extra training, which is why stuff like the Spider Mother's threads being harder to detect is a thing, and the Spider Sister was a bit more creative with using her own web. Speaking of her, it might not have been entirely made clear in this chapter, but Chihime's actions in this case were in retaliation for the Sister's death. I'll leave you to make your own conclusions from that. **

**Another thing present in this chapter was a usage of the Breath of the Sun I had eluded to before when Tanjiro and Kanao fought Susamaru and Yahaba, how it nullifies or burns down certain Demon Blood Art techniques like Susamaru's Temari or the Spider Mother's Threads. I honestly considered writing that out of the story for a while because it seemed too far out considering Breath Techniques aren't really supposed to be anything more than really fancy sword attacks with little magic to them, just some suspension of disbelief.**

**However, that was before we saw what Yoriichi could do with the Breath of the Sun. As you guys who keep up with the manga know, Muzan has recently began to manifest scars from being cut down by Yoriichi all those years ago. Which would be at least credible if he just healed from them and they remained in his body all this time, but NO. Because after his fight with Yoriichi he did his split and escape thing, and regenerated his entire body from a clump of flesh the size of his fist. Which means 99% of his current body never even tasted Yoriichi's blade, but the scars left by the Breath of the Sun seemingly engrained itself into his DNA and manifested even post-regeneration. Compared to that, nullifying a Demon's Blood Art seems very tame.**

**Anyway, I think that's enough for now. Next chapter we'll have Zenitsu and Genya facing off against the Spider Mother and her demon corpse puppet, plus some other interesting stuff, so look forward to that. My gratitude and thanks still goes to DownwardDive. He recomended me Solo Leveling and thus got me into Manhwa, and if the fact that I'm mentioning this now doesn't make that clear, it's a recommendation that I pass on to those reading this.**

**So…reviews. Let's go.**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: Alright so the meeting is on the way huh..._

_Chapter was really good as always, but if I have problem with anything is that Chihime was way to delicate in fight. Spider-mother is able to control corpses also quite easly but still Chihime didn't kill anyone. I mean come on not even a single served limb._

_I kind of got a feeling that you try to make sure that Nezuko won't kill anyone while being a demon and that's seems quite forced in my opinon. She is a man eating monster now after all and I don't think she would have any contraindications with killing humans. At least she shouldn't have if she is truly loyal to Muzan._

_I am still kind of hope that Tanjiro will accept Pillar position someday... maybe after spider family arc, if he manages to take Rui out. I also wonder how will Tanjiro react when he finally meets with Nezuko. I wouldn't be suprised if it started with denial since he saw her head being cut after all._

_Can't wait for another chapter! Good luck :)_

**Yeah...as you will probably realize by this chapter, that is not what I was going for. Regarding Nezuko not hurting any of the humans TOO badly last chapter, there are three reasons. One, they work best as puppets the more intact they are. Two, her holding back on them makes it all the more shocking when she murders them all in one go. Three, as you might see later on in this arc, Chihime has an odd view on Demon Slayers from Kokushibo's teachings.**

**I also wanted her to have a good reason for doing what she did. Not that she needed one, but it gives her actions a human edge that I really want to shine through despite her still being, in every sense of the word, a demon. Still, that's not an impression I wanted to give, so it does make me wish I had her be abit more brutal against the Demon Slayers.**

**Now, regarding Tanjiro becoming a Pillar…well, think of it like this: his main reason to not become a Pillar is based on his philosophy about a kind demon existing out there, exemplified by his sister, and how an indiscriminate Demon Slayer could carelessly slay them, exemplified by Giyu. Once he sees that example of a kind demon corrupted in his surviving sister, that turns his entire world view upside down. How he comes out of that though is something you all will have to wait and see.**

_Deutzieg: Okay, so, uhhhhh after 2 months(or more...?) and 6 chapters, I'm finally here! *All Might pose_

_WOW! After 2 hectic months and a lot of training for my new job, I can finally back to my useless self and read this story and fanfiction again! Hurray! Feels good man, really._

_I really wanted to review all the 6 chapters, but because my stubborn ass brain wanted to read all the 6 chapters in one sit and I don't want to write a long-ass review(sorry!) I guess I'll just review the latest chapter lel._

_So, Tanjiro is really on another level huh? Zenitsu and the rest really needs to put their best if they wanted to be his equal, especially Zenitsu, keep going Zenitsu! You can do it!_

_And lord Boar is here! lol, reading/watching him always makes me laughing everytime, his fight with Kanao is pretty intense, and I can't help but smile like an idiot when Kanao jumps out of nowhere just to stop Inosuke fighting his man(Tanjiro), I know Kanao probably don't mean anything romantical with that, but my shipper side just goes boom like a rocket lol._

_I don't think I need to comment anything about Chihime/Nezuko's fight, it's seems like she's pretty good, I bet she's better than all these lower moons. I wonder what is her Breath is, is it Moon Breath? Sun Breath? or a new different breath? Looking forward for it in the next chapter!_

_I think I know why you made Chihime use the mask, indeed, it would be really dramatical when Tanjiro finally face her, he would be somehow remember her smell, but wondering why another demon has her smell._

_Bruh, I can't wait for another chapter, good work Sky! Looking forward for more!_

**Well, I haven't seen you for a while, but I'm really glad to see the story's first reviewer is still reading regardless. And though getting six reviews like that woulda been a blast, I'm still happy with just the one.**

**So yes, Tanjiro is a step above the rest, even Kanao somewhat despite them both knowing Full Focus Constant. The others will indeed have to improve as to catch up to him after this arc.**

**We also get some more Inosuke this chapter, the moment in special where he chastises Murata is actually quite important for his character, but you'll see that later. Plus there's also a little TanjiKana moment to show some change in their relationship, so I hope you enjoyed that.**

**Chihime is not necessarily the strongest Lower Moon, but she is without a shadow of a doubt the most skilled and well trained. That distinction will become very relevant as we move on with her. Her breath...well, that's another thing I'm holding off on until the right time**

**And yeah, you probably did guess my intentions with the mask. It's a means of postponing Nezuko's reveal for max effect. And given how much she's changed in the last two years, even Tanjiro has trouble recognizing her smell.**

**Anyway, thanks for the review. I do hope you can find the time to review again soon.**

_Neema Amiry: Thank you_

**You're welcome.**

_DriftingPhoenix: Rui and Chihime? Blegh! Also, Chihime win action? That's so cool! I wonder how Tanjiro would react when he sees his sister again, would he be devastated? (The connection between the spider sister and Chihime is sort of cute)_

**Well, they met, but what I think you and a lot of people are expecting is not per say the meeting, but rather the realization. Which will come, all in due time.**

**As for Chihime and the Sister's relationship...yeah, sorry.**

_LegoMyEggo02: Do you have any plans for Urokodaki?_

**Maybe...to be honest, that is something I'm still working out. I have ideas, sure, but no sure way of getting there yet.**

_FearfulFan1987: If next chapter is gonna go the way I think it gonna go, then I can't wait. Amazing story._

**Can't really be sure what you expected, but I hope you were content with the results.**

_PopeEyes: It feels like there is going to be a Nezuko x Rui ship lol. Or an alliance._

**Can't lie when I say that I've considered it, not because it is a particularly cutesy pairing, but to give Rui some extra character. I ended up deciding however that he probably doesn't have the maturity to even understand that kind of love, and even if he feels it, he'd still rather want Chihime as a sister by his side because it's just what he understands.**

_DEMONEZUKO: A nezuko fight scene :DDDD I wonder why she isn't killing them?_

**Yeah, I already mentioned some of my reasons for that in response to another review, but the main in-story reason is something I'll address separately later.**

**So, with all that said, I think we're good for today. Like I mentioned last chapter, there really is no use asking for Favorite and Follow for new readers, seeing as its very unlikely someone will reach this point in one go. If you did though, and are reading this...goddamn. Still, I will continue asking for Reviews at the end of every chapter, cause that kind of feedback is what moves me more than anything. That said, I hope to hear what you all thought about this chapter, and the next one should be coming at some near point in the future probably around a week from now. See you there, Sky signing out. **


	18. Spiders and Slayers

Zenitsu and Genya were racing along a pathway leading up Natagumo Mountain, chasing after the puppeteering demon that had given them so much trouble with the Demon Slayers she had forced them to fight. As they ran, however, the latter of the boys would find himself distracted by troubling thoughts. For once, however, it wasn't about his own safety Zenitsu was worried about. Rather, it was about Tanjiro. He understood being shaken by what they had bore witness to. After all, even in their line of work, it was not every day you saw so many humans lives snuffed out so suddenly and in such a gruesome way. The sounds of their bodies burning still made him shiver somewhat even then, so he couldn't imagine how it must have been for his friend to actually smell it with his acute sense of scent.

At the same time though, something still didn't seem right. It wasn't upon seeing those bodies that Tanjiiro had seemed odd to him. If anything, he'd just seemed angry, so much he'd rushed right in to confront the demon when none of them had even noticed its presence yet. It was after being knocked back down to the ground however that Zenitsu had seen the look in his face. One he might've been very familiar with himself, but was still the last thing he'd imagined he'd see in Tanjiro. It was fear. Pure and simple fear.

In any other situation, he would never doubt Tanjiro's abilities, but that face...even if he'd tried to hide it once he realized his feelings were starting to rub off on them too, Zenitsu had heard his racing heartbeat, and knew that something had startled him deeply back then. Even his decision to separate them despite how earlier he'd been driving in the point that they had to work together...it was unlike him.

"You don't need to be so worried," Genya noted beside him, halting Zenitsu's line of thought as he looked over to his fellow Tsuchinoe, "the demon we're going after is clearly the type to hide behind its puppets rather than coming out to fight us itself. As long as we don't let those spiders ensnare us with their threads, we should be fine."

"Yeah...that's a relief," Zenitsu replied quietly but chose not to share the real reason behind his worries. After all, he didn't want to risk having both of them focused on their worries and further distracted about the mission at hand. He suddenly perked up, however, and stopped, reaching out to grab Genya by his Yukata before he could get too far either.

"What?" The scarred Demon Slayer asked annoyedly, turning over to him, only to see the blond direly staring straight ahead into the darkness.

"I can hear it...something's coming," Zenitsu told him, and Genya would turn too, just in time to see a large figure emerge from the forest's shadows. With several thick threads attached to it, the monster that came out was a tall humanoid creature wearing only pants, leaving its muscular torso and dark skin bare to see. Instead of hands, however, the demon's forearms linked instead to a pair of sharp scythe-like blades. Most notable though was the fact that, strangely enough, the demon did not have a head.

"...a headless demon, huh?" Genya asked in a mixture of nervousness and morbid fascination, "Now that's something you don't see every day..."

"I guess the demon still had one more puppet remaining..." Zenitsu anxiously spoke, taking a hold of his sheathed katana's hilt.

The demon was, for obvious reasons, not very talkative as it quickly rushed in at the two Demon Slayers. Genya drew his blade, but only managed to haphazardly block a blow that sent him skidding to the side while the demon moved in at Zenitsu. The blond nervously backed up, dodging and blocking the headless demon's bladed arms slashing at him wth his drawn katana. Genya however, had not yet given up on fighting the puppet and leaped in trying to slash it from behind, only for one of its blade arms raising to intercept him. Zenitsu would see this as his chance and leap over the demon's other arm being swung at him, slashing over its nonexistent head to cut off the strings holding it up.

At least that's what he tried to do. What he couldn't have expected however was his blade cutting through about two of the threads with difficulty before the last one bent with his blade, damaged, but not fully cut, and the demon spun around swinging its blade at him. The blond managed to block it despite still being midair and was flung back, managing to spin midair and land on his feet. He was given little time to recover however as the headless demon moved in at him with its cut threads already reattached by the same spiders as before, ready to hack the boy apart, only for Genya to leap in at the last moment and intercept its dash, blocking its two blades with both his kodachi and his gun, "Keep going!" He told Zenitsu, holding back the demon with gritted teeth, "I can handle this bastard, you go ahead and kill the one controlling it!"

Zenitsu blinked, uncertain if he should follow Genya's advice and leave him there to deal with such a strong opponent, "Are...you sure? I don't know if it's a good idea for us to separate even further"

"I know, but it's still the best way to do this! If we both just try and fight it, the demon will have just run away by the time this thing's defeated!" The scarred boy insisted, "If I hold it down though, and you can slip past and finish the demon off while the its still distracted using its puppet to deal with me! So, instead of wasting time worrying, why don't you go ahead and actually do something useful?!"

The blond boy widened his eyes, but his expression steeled after a moment before he nodded and quickly turned his back on Genya and the headless demon, beginning to run his way up the mountain once again, "_Alright...I'll go on ahead._" he declared, "_Just please be careful, Genya!"_

* * *

Genya smirked as Zenitsu disappeared behind him before, with a sudden burst of strength, pushing back the headless demon and causing it to stumble slightly. "Alright then...just you and me now, you headless motherfucker." He declared, raising both his weapons together, "Gimme your best shot!"

The headless demon wordlessly complied as it rushed in towards the scarred boy. Genya, in turn, backed up while blocking and dodging its blows frantically. The demon, however, did not let up, focusing entirely on making mincemeat of his opponent. The boy would duck underneath one of its swings as one of its blades carved deeply into a tree behind him before turning around and throwing an upwards swing at him. Though once again blocking the blow, he'd do so off-balance, and be sent sprawling some ways back rather violently.

Despite shaken, Genya managed to regain his bearings enough to push himself forward and roll underneath the headless demon leaping in towards him. He rose and brought his blade with him to block the demon spinning around and swinging its blade at him again. He was sent skidding some distance by the blow, but would grin as a bite-sized chunk of his opponent's arm was now missing. Genya chewed, and swallowed slowly before spitting out at the ground, "Damn...you really taste like shit, huh?" He asked the puppet demon with a grin while stepping in towards it, whipping off blood from the corner of his mouth, "Still, that really gave me the boost I was looking for...whatcha say we go another round?"

The headless demon responded by rushing in at him again, but Genya would move in to meet it. This time around, their clash was not as one-sided, and the Demon Slayer would manage to hold his ground by blocking the demon's swings and slashes with his kodachi, its moves quick but predictable, and not as overwhelming as before due to his new boost. However, just as he sidestepped one of its swings and moved to slash across its chest, he'd suddenly feel his movements be suddenly halted in place as every muscle in his upper body suddenly froze. Glancing to the side briefly, he'd see a spider's thread leading up to the treetops attached to his shoulder and curse. The headless demon took this chance to try and impale him with one of its arm-blades, but Genya struggled against the control placed on him and managed to move his left hand enough to aim at the demon's chest with his gun before pulling the trigger.

The shotgun blast knocked back the demon with its power, preventing him from cutting down the Demon Slayer. Given some time to recover, Genya managed to fight enough against the thread's hold on him to cut it off and dash back in at the demon, only for the threads to suddenly drag it back to its feet, allowing it to block the boy's sword with its arm-blade, the bleeding wound on its chest not showing any signs of healing as it would to a normal demon, but not seeming to bother it all that much either.

The headless demon would stab forward at Genya to try and impale him again, but the boy would sidestep the blow and be able to evade it while only receiving a gash on his side. He swung his gun as a makeshift weapon to hold down its other arm-blade while thrusting his kodachi at its other shoulder. The blade sunk in halfway through, and Genya would try to twist and pull at it to disarm the demon, but he wouldn't be given the needed time as the headless demon rushed into him, body slamming the Demon Slayer away from it.

Grunting, Genya would rise again, and lick the bitter demon blood off the edge of his blade to give him another small boost and help in healing his new injury. The thing was strong, no doubt about it. Its body was tough and it had no obvious weak spot like a neck for him to target. Still, normally he wouldn't be all that worried in taking it down, but those spiders and their strings could prove to be a real problem. All it took was one mistake to let them paralyze him at the wrong time and leave him skewered by the headless demon's blades. He had to remind himself that this was not just about winning, but about buying time. His best shot was by keeping it busy for as long as he could and give his comrade a chance to defeat their real opponent, "_Come on, Zenitsu...I'm counting on you._" He thought, crying out before rushing his opponent once again with his kodachi raised.

* * *

Zenitsu flinched as the loud bang of a gunshot echoed out behind him, but he went on running regardless without even glancing back. It was pointless to worry now, be it for Genya fighting that monster or Tanjiro running off after a dangerous demon. All he could focus on was doing his job, finding and killing the one controlling the puppets they had been facing off against since arriving in this mountain. Though it wasn't like he wasn't worried about that either. With so many things weighing down in his mind, he tried to invest the rest of his attention into keeping an eye on his surroundings for any sign of the demon. Still, that wasn't enough to prevent him from running in between two trees and being caught up in a spiderweb discreetly weaved in between them, causing the boy to yelp in surprise and quickly begin patting himself to get the cobwebs off him, "_Ugh, damn cobwebs...they really had me panicking for a moment._" He thought, before pausing for a moment "_Wait...a spider's web...oh, no._"

Realization dawned upon him a moment too late however as an invisible force suddenly pulled at him, forcefully dragging the boy on the ground through a great deal of forestation, being pulled through bushes and bounced off trees, all the while struggling fruitlessly to try and rise up or draw his katana, anything that could help him stop himself, but it was for naught. Finally, it seemed he'd been dragged far enough as the thread stopped pulling Zenitsu, allowing him to begin recomposing himself after being forcefully dragged there, but would freeze as he heard a wry chuckle, "How lucky…of all the Demon Slayers that could've reached me, turns out the one who made it is also the meekest looking one."

The boy would turn to look at the source of the chuckling and be met by a short voluptuous woman with white hair sitting on a tree stump right in the middle of the dark clearing he'd been dragged to. Zenitsu might've felt a hint of attraction towards her if it weren't for the very obvious demonic traits such as her pale skin, demonic markings on her face and overall bloodthirsty grin. "Up, now." She commanded him, pulling at a thread connected from her left index to the treetops above and all the way down to his back, suddenly dragging Zenitsu up to his feet. All the while, her right hand was fidgeting its fingers with another set of strings attached to its fingers, presumably the ones controlling the demon Genya was probably still fighting at that very moment.

Zenitsu would attempt to struggle his way out of the threads, but he soon realized that two more of them had connected to each of his arms, further limiting his movement. The demon would grin as a pair of spiders came down the thread she was using to puppet him and attached another two threads to her thumb and middle fingers, giving her free control of the boy's arms."What a fun new flesh puppet you brought me…" She commented, narrowing her eyes as one of the threads she was controlling in her other hand seemed to snap and fall limply to the ground, causing her to frown "Your friend is giving me such trouble too. Maybe I should have you go help in killing him."

"N-no…" Zenitsu stuttered, trying fruitlessly to move against the threads controlling him, "…stop…I won't let you use me to hurt Genya…"

The demon looked at him as if he was nothing more than a cute animal doing a trick, "Is that so? And what exactly will you be doing to stop me?" She inquired, tugging at his thread and suddenly having Zenitsu be suddenly dragged up into the treetops, pulled roughly to be hit back first against the branch of a tree before being let free to fall back down to the ground. "Yes…I thought so," The demon commented, seeing him struggle again to rise from the ground, "Still…you did bring up a fair point." She noted, having him be pulled back to his feet again, "If I send you out there like you are, your friend might just free you from my threads, and then I'd have to deal with the two of you at once." She sighed, "It might be less effective that way, but I guess I'll have to kill you before I can really make you my puppet."

Zenitsu widened his eyes at that, beginning to panic as the danger he was in fully began setting. Tanjiro was not around to help him, and Inosuke had followed him. Genya was still down there fighting that headless puppet and Kanao had no idea of what was even happening to them as she'd stayed to heal Murata at the base of Mount Natagumo. He was alone, with no one to help him and entirely reliant on his own self to somehow escape this situation. But for all his struggles, it all proved meaningless as the threads continued preventing him from moving his own body.

"You know, I could simply tug at that thread and snap your neck…but that's not the fitting way to do it." The demon told him, pulling at the threads to force him to reach out and slowly draw out his katana, raising it horizontally before him, "I think it's far more poetic to have you slice off your own head as you Demon Slayers are so prone to doing with us demons, don't you agree?" She inquired with a shit-eating grin, having Zenitsu flip over his blade so the edge was pointing towards him before starting to have him move it towards his own neck.

He fought with every inch of his being to stop his controlled motion as the katana drew closer to his neck, and was able to momentarily halt it as his arm shook violently with being tugged by the two forces controlling it at opposite directions, "Oh? I didn't expect that kind of struggle from you…" The demon admitted, "No matter. It's impossible to break my control. You should just give up and save us both some time." She told him, twitching her middle finger and causing the force tugging at his arm to get stronger, resuming its strained movement towards his neck as Zenitsu stared down at the reflection of his own widened eyes full of fear reflected back to him in his own blade.

"_I can't stop it…I can't stop my arm…I can't stop the blade…!_" He thought nervously, "_…is this it?_ _Am I really gonna die in such a pathetic way such as cutting off my own head_…?_"_

"_You're no fit for being a Demon Slayer, Zenitsu. Too soft. Too cowardly._" He could almost hear his senior student's harsh words ringing in the back of his mind, reinforcing the feeling of despair, "_You should quit while you're ahead and spare yourself from a gruesome death._"

"_I guess Kaigaku was right all along…_" Zenitsu mused with a grim, nervous smile, "_Maybe if I hadn't been so stubborn…maybe if I had listened to him, I might have lived a long peaceful life….but then again…_"

_"I told you already, I ain't giving up on you, kid!_" Gramps had once told him for what seemed to be the umpteenth time as he cried and crawled at his feet, "_You might not even believe it yourself, but I'm gonna show you there's potential in you for greatness yet!"_

"_Was gramps wrong too…?_" Zenitsu wondered silently, the edge of his blade reaching his neck and leaving a small cut to the side, but at this point he was too enthralled in his own thoughts and in unconsciously fighting back the demon's pull to even notice, "_No…cause he wasn't the only one who believed in me..._"

"_Deep down, I know you're actually a capable Demon Slayer, Zenitsu._" Tanjiro had told him just after they'd arrived in Natagumo,_ "Hell, if you managed to control your fear, I bet you could get even stronger than me._"

"...that's right…I am strong." He muttered to himself out loud with newfound conviction, breathing in deeply and turning an intense gaze down to his arm as the blade slowly began being pulled away from his neck, with him successfully beginning to fight back for control of his body.

"…huh? What do you think you're doing?!" The demon asked irritably, tugging harder at the strings and pulling back the blade closer to his neck again, but Zenitsu held it tightly and continued fighting against the demon's control.

"_Don't falter…don't lose your focus…you just need a moment…one moment, and you can take her down._" He told himself, his teeth gritting as one last memory surfaced in his mind.

"_Your wounds aren't fully healed yet, so make sure you don't push yourself too hard!_" Aoi had told him when he'd last seen her, putting a tough facade for a moment before allowing herself to mellow out slightly and show the worry she'd tried to hide, "…_take care out there, Zenitsu…come back to us safe, okay?_"

"Stop this!" The demon demanded, pulling at the strings controlling him angrily, "You are my puppet, obey your puppetmaster!"

"I'm no one's puppet…" Zenitsu replied direly, his eyes steeled with defiance while his blade's edge towards the demon once it was far enough from his neck, allowing him to work on switching his footing as well, this one with significantly less difficulty, "I'm a Demon Slayer."

No sooner did he make that declaration that lightning began to flicker in and out of view around him, surrounding both the entrapped boy and his extended blade, "Breath of Thunder, First Form…" He chanted as the quickly panicking demon tried to pull at the strings to desperately reign back the Zenitsu before he could make his move, only for them to snap at that very moment with the Demon Slayer's sudden dash. The demon barely registered what had happened as a bolt of lightning rushed past her, the edge of a katana striking at her neck and easily slicing through, with her body finally falling limp as her head was separated from it. "…Thunderclap and Flash." Zenitsu finished, now standing across the clearing with his blade lowered as the yellow streaks of electricity faded around him.

He glanced down on the side and saw the look of shock still stamped on the demon's face. She said nothing as she began disintegrating from her neck up, before finally seeming to notice him staring down at her and turning her gaze to his. Neither demon nor Demon Slayer said a word as the former finished disintegrating, but Zenitsu could've sworn that right before her eyes were turned to dust, he saw a look of calm acceptance flash past them just as she vanished fully. Despite all her actions and what she'd tried to do to him, in that short moment, the boy actually felt glad for the demon managing to achieve some sort of peace before her demise.

He took a deep breath and sighed quietly in relief, "_That was close…_" He thought to himself while silently dragging the back of his blade in between his pinched fingers before returning it to his scabbard, "_If it wasn't for that sudden burst of confidence, I'd be dead meat for sure…but still,_" The blond boy stared down at his open palm, still surprised at his own actions, "_w__ho would've thought you had it in you, Zenitsu…?" _That, he quickly realized, was a dumb question, "_Yeah…of course,_" He silently noted, thinking back to Gramps, Tanjiro, Aoi and even the other Senses, "_I guess they all did, to some extent…_"

This though served as a sudden reminder of their situation and about the other Senses, "_Oh, crap, that's right! Tanjiro and Inosuke are heading up the mountain right now to fight a Lower Moon, not to mention what else might be lying up there! I gotta go help_ _them!_" He decided, starting to run his way up the mountain, before suddenly stopped as he recalled another member of their group, "_But...what about Genya...? He was down there fighting that puppet too...is he okay...?_" He wondered silently, hesitating to keep on going and wondering for a moment if he should head back to check on his fellow Tsuchinoe. He recalled, however, that up to his beheading of her, the demon was still moving her other hand to control the corpse demon. Meaning up until she was no longer able to control it, Genya must've still been fighting her puppet. Not to mention that Genya, out of all of them, was the one that had to be least worried about these kinds of injuries given his own unique method of fighting. He'd only been explained the gist of it after asking the boy about it, but apparently a boost in overall power was not the only thing he got from eating demons, but also a quite potent healing factor that allowed him to survive injuries that would certainly be fatal for any normal human.

He knew, then and there, that the decision he was about to make was a very stupid one. But even if he went back to Genya, there was no guarantee he'd be able to keep moving forward while healing from any injuries, and if he did he would probably slow both of them down greatly. The whole team was already slowed down somewhat on their way there in order to let him keep up when he couldn't use breathing techniques like the rest, he had no doubt making his way up the mountain would be even worse. Even with all that considered, moving on without him was still a very stupid decision, but it wasn't one fully guided by logic. Try as he might, Zenitsu still couldn't shake off the look of terror on Tanjiro's face after his clash with that demon. He really didn't know what it meant or what might have been going through his friend's head, but he knew that if he ended up going back for Genya instead of rushing ahead to help him and something ended up actually happening to Tanjiro, he would never forgive himself.

So, hesitantly and worriedly, he glanced back over his shoulder while biting onto his lower lip and offered a silent apology to Genya, all before turning his gaze ahead of him and starting to once again make his way up the mountain.

* * *

"So much for invincible, ain't that right, you headless fuck?!" Genya inquired to his opponent smugly. He was not quite in perfect shape, his yukata torn at the left side alongside ripped sections of his Demon Slayer garbs, as well as a thin cut marring the shaved side of his head that left him with dry blood belonging to both him and the demon painting his face. The demon, however, was undoubtedly worse, evidenced by the fact that it was now lacking its entire left arm, torn off at the shoulder by Genya. He'd eaten the bastard's rotten flesh up to its elbow, and from that was left with its thick arm blade made of bone, which he took pleasure in dual-wielding against it alongside his kodachi. "You think you're tough shit cause you don't have a head I can cut, but there ain't much point in that if you can't even regenerate, am I right?!"

The headless demon only responded by silently raising its bladed arm at Genya again, to which the boy opened a feral grin, "Wanna go again, huh? Fine by me!" He shouted, dashing in at the demon and having it responded by the demon dashing at him. However, just as the two of them were about to reach each other and trade blows, he would see the threads holding up the creature's body quickly fading into ash, causing it to collapse limply on the ground right before it was about to swing at its opponent.

Genya paused then, halting his dash as he looked down at the collapsed demon, its body beginning to disintegrate. Finally relaxing, he dropped the blade he stole from the creature, it too fading into dust as he spat out a mix of saliva and blood on the ground, stumbling towards a tree and collapsing with his back against it to rest a bit.

The demon, despite being just a corpse turned puppet, was still a tough opponent. Not as powerful as the fire-breathing demon he faced off back in Kaigara, but tough regardless. Genya could have likely beat it still, but who knows at what cost, " _He might seem like a total pussy, but I guess Zenitsu really pulled through after all..._" the Demon Slayer thought, stabbing down his kodachi into the ground, "_Well...I guess I'll just wait here and rest a bit 'till he gets back._"

Genya silently stared up at the sky in between the treetops, narrowing his eyes. And just like he told himself, wait he did.

* * *

Inosuke Hashibira was quite annoyed at the moment. After all, despite asking for the boar-headed boy to follow him, Tanjiro was not at all keen on waiting for him to catch up after he'd dashed off up the mountain following after the swordswoman demon he'd seemed so nervous about. With that said, it was only a matter of minutes before he'd left Inosuke behind entirely, with the feral-looking swordsman being left to try and follow his trail. And then, just a while later, that trail was lost, and he now found himself aimlessly roaming through Natagumo Mountain's forestation in search of any clue leading him back where his rival might've run off to. The particularly disgusting smell that covered the surrounding area for whatever reason did no wonders in improving his mood either, "_Ugh...damn that Denjiro! I can't believe he really left me behind!_" The boy grunted annoyedly. Not even his Spatial Awareness technique had been any help in locating him seeing as the bastard had long left his range. "_Next time I see him he's gonna regret ever disrespecting me! I'm still vice-leader after all, so if he thinks he can just run ahead and ditch me like that, he's gonna-_"

His line of thought was suddenly interrupted when he suddenly felt something crawling at the side of his leg and instinctively kicked it away. He turned to look at what it was as the thing bounced off the ground before coming to a stop. As Inosuke caught a good view of it, he would be met with an unnatural sight. What he had kicked, as it turned out, was a living creature, one that looked as if it had the body of an oversized spider, with several legs creeping and crawling at its side. The really weird part about it though was its head, which to put it simply, was not a spider's. Despite being about the size of a toddler's head, with no sign of real intelligence in its eyes and a hairless, pale and overall disheveled appearance, that spider most definitely had a human head, and it was looking right at Inosuke.

Now, for a normal person, this would be cause for alarm. They would be scared or at the very least creeped out by the weird creature. Inosuke however, had just found a target on which to vent his increasing frustration, "The hell are you looking at?!" He angrily shouted at the human-headed-spider, causing it to widen its eyes in fear and suddenly begin crawling away. Inosuke was not letting it get too far however as he screamed while running after it, quickly catching up and punting it with a mighty kick that sent the poor creature flying over the treetops and well out of his line of sight.

"That takes care of that...creepy little bastard..." He grunted, before turning around and blinking underneath his mask as he finally took note of his surroundings and the place he'd just happened to walk into. It was a large open clearing with a quaint wooden house, which also just so happened to be hanging sideways fifty feet up in the air, kept in place by numerous woven threads that all connected together to make an intricate spiderweb. Hung from the same web were several bodies, some looking more human, while others seemed more shrunken, with their hair gone, limbs turning into the legs of a spider and their unfit clothes beginning to fall off. Not to mention, the smell was now worse than ever, as its source was made clear to be this horrible-looking place.

The boar headed boy barely had the time to take all that in before it appeared. Sliding out through the house's open door, hanging upside down from a thread woven from its spinneret was undoubtedly the biggest spider Inosuke had ever seen. It was easily larger than an adult person, and much like the smaller spiders that had attacked him or the ones that were still turning, it had a humanlike head of a young man. Unlike them though, it had white spiky hair and round markings across its face, with mismatched eyes and a wide grin.

That grin, however, would fade when the spider's gaze met Inosuke's and the boy would begin chuckling quietly before quickly ramping it up to a full-on boisterous laugh that seemed to leave the spider demon quite confused, "Ah, that's just great! Kicking that puny thing wasn't even enough to scratch my itch, but pummeling this freak here? Now that might just be what I need!"

"...well, you're an odd one." The spider demon noted while studying the boar-headed boy, "Most humans freak out whenever they see me, some put on a brave face and try to fight, but I've never seen anyone bursting in laughter when they see me...I can't decide whether you are that dumb or if you just have a death wish."

"Enough talking!" He cried out, leaping from the ground towards the demon, his two jagged blades already drawn and posed to slash at it. The Spider Demon though saw this coming, and before Inosuke could reach him, he would puff his cheeks before spitting out a thick dark mass of thick liquid towards the boar-headed swordsman. Seeing that though, he'd spin his body midair, to narrowly avoid the liquid, some of it dousing his back and causing the boy to grit his teeth underneath his boar head, a burning sensation being left where it had hit him. In spite of getting somewhat caught by the attack and being put off his original target, he still tried to slash at the demon with one of his swords. Two of its legs would raise to intercept his blade between them though as the spider demon pushed Inosuke away from him with a grin.

Inosuke wouldn't hit the ground again though, as mid-fall he found himself tangled in a mess of webs that he hit his back against instead, giving the demon another chance to attack as it puffed up its cheeks again, "Demon Blood Art: Poison Sputum!" He announced, making the thick dark liquid rain down on the Demon Slayer. Struggling in his hold, the boy would manage to cut through the webs and allow himself to fall again before the poison hit him, and use his momentum to roll as he hit the ground in order to dodge the rain of poison, which in seconds dissolved through the grass where it landed, leaving behind a shallow but steaming melted hole.

"_Damn...this shit stings already, but if I get a full-on dose of it, there won't be much left of me._" He thought with a grunt, moving around as to not make himself too easy a target, "_I hate to admit that, but I'll have to be more careful if I want to close in and cut off his head."_

Seeing that, the spider demon narrowed his eyes as they began glowing in a faint red flow. Not a moment later, Inosuke would notice something staring at the back of his arm and move to the side as one of the human-headed spiders crawled out of the forest and opened its mouth to shoot out a stinger attached to a thread at him, managing to graze his forearm with it before he reached out and grabbed onto the spider's thread. It tried to pull itself closer to him through that thread, but the boy quickly turned around and kicked the creature away from him. More of the spiders would begin then emerging from around the clearing, attacking him with their stingers and forcing him to dodge around their attacks, all their eyes glowing with the same soft red as the spider demon.

"You can keep dodging for as long as you want, but the moment one of them bites you, you'll start transforming into another one of my spider slaves!" The demon spider cackled from its hanging position far above, "The moment you make a mistake is the moment you lose this fight!"

"_...I get it...so the big creep is controlling all the little creeps..._" Inosuke realized, knocking a pincher aside with his blade while jumping over another one, "_Gotta finish this off quickly and cut his head off. The longer I play around, the more chances I'm giving the bastard of getting to me."_

The boar-headed boy gripped his two katana tightly, rushing past the smaller spiders while hacking them apart with reckless abandon. He would then run up the side of a nearby tree, reaching one of its branches and jumping off towards the spider demon once again. Annoyedly, the creature would puff its cheeks as it prepared to spray Inosuke with its poison sputum once again, but the swordsman was quicker, and he would throw one of his two katana not at the spider, but rather upwards at the thread he was hanging from. The blade slashed through the web easily before coming to a stop as the serrated edge of the weapon sunk into the outer walls of the suspended wooden house.

Surprised, the spider's poison would miss entirely as it suddenly felt itself falling, with Inosuke spinning midair before starting to fall headfirst after the demon. As he began closing distance, he'd grip his raised katana with two hands, preparing to decapitate his opponent mid-fall with one mighty swing. The demon, however, despite the brief look of fear and panic crossing his face, would react quicker, and shoot out its web from its spinneret, catching Inosuke in the chest with it before spinning around and pulling the boy to the side, throwing him off position and causing him to slam down on the ground painfully while his opponent landed on all his eight feet.

"Well, I have to admit…for a brutish dumb human like yourself, that wasn't all that badly thought out. For a second there it really seemed as you'd gotten me." The spider pointed out, smirking at the boy smugly while Inosuke struggled to rise. He angrily cut off the web attached to him and rushed in at the demon, but wasn't fast enough as the spider quickly shot off another incredibly fast web upwards, reattaching himself to the house and quickly dragging himself upward to avoid the jagged blade slashing at him. "Nah ah! You won't be getting another chance now!" The spider demon taunted him, pulling itself up to the suspended house and hanging sideways from its side just next to the stuck sword as a spider would do. Looking down, his grin would then grow ear to ear as his eyes once again began glowing in that same soft red as before, "Now, how about we wrap up this game?!"

On cue, dozens of small human-headed spiders would emerge from all sides of the clearing, their eyes also glowing red as they rushed in towards Inosuke intent on converting him into one of their own. Despite being deprived from his normal dual-wielding style, he raised his blade regardless, slashing apart the approaching spiders indiscriminately. However, doing all that with one katana alone was proving somewhat troubling with how many of them were moving in at him akk at once, with the boar-headed boy groaning while staring up at the grinning spider demon next to his thrown sword and silently wishing he hadn't gotten rid of it like he did.

Just then, one of the human-headed spiders released its stinger at him and missed, allowing Inosuke to take a hold of the thread again with a tight grip. Grinning behind his mask as another idea came to mind, he tugged at the thread forcefully, dragging the spider closer to him and beginning to spin it around by the thread over his head, using it to bludgeon its fellow spiders out of the way while still cutting them down with his sword. Once he'd gained enough momentum spinning the thing though, he would turn his attention back upwards, and sent it flying high into the air at high speeds, straight towards the suspended house and the Spider Demon on its side. Seeing that though, the creature quickly crawled out of the way so that the spider instead just squashed in the side of the house, leaving a smudge on its side and shaking both the house and the web holding it up slightly.

"Heh…was that really meant to hit me? What a poor effort…guess you're really getting desperate." The demon taunted, not taking note of how the wobbling loosened the sword stuck on its side until it serrated edge finally got unstuck and it began falling down. By then, however, Inosuke had already found himself in trouble, especially when stabbing one of the spiders caused it to get stuck on his blade and began making it hard to use it effectively in cutting the other approaching arachnids. The few seconds he took in ripping the creature's body off his sword was all the small army of spiders needed to enclose around him, quickly swarming the boar headed boy and drowning him underneath their bodies, the Demon Spider grinning widely as he came out of view, probably set to emerge from the situation he got in as another spider himself.

The sword, however, kept falling towards the swarm regardless, and just as it was about to hit them, an arm emerged from the mess of spiders and took a tight hold of the katana by its hilt, "Breath of the Beast, Fourth Fang…" A booming voice called out from down below, "MAD CLEAVE!"

Suddenly, the swarm of spiders were all ripped apart from the inside out, two serrated blades violently being swung at all directions to cut through every single last one of them. By the time they were done, all that was left standing amidst the remains of the spiders' remnants was an angered and dirtied Inosuke, every single one of the many developed muscles on his body still flexed in order to prevent the spiders from having their stingers pierce past his skin. With the small fry dealt with and his two blades recovered, the boar-headed boy turned his gaze upwards, breathing deeply and causing steam to leave his nostrils as a hissing sounds were heard. The Spider Demon looked both surprised and nervous as he watched Inosuke kneel slightly, all his strength focused on his legs before he rocketed upwards into the air again, intent on ending the demon this time around.

Gritting his teeth angrily, the spider demon would puff his cheeks and spit out a rain of poison towards the ascending Inosuke, but the boy would see it coming, and grab onto one of the strings mid-jump, slashing it and using the release of its built-up tension to pull himself to the side and avoid the poison, spinning midair again to plant both his feet on another one of the strings, stretching it back before being sent flying skyward once again, his two katana raised wand readied to cut down his foe. The spider demon widened his eyes and attempted crawling inside the house as a last-ditch effort to protect himself from the Demon Slayer, but it was for naught. Inosuke would grip his two swords tightly regardless, breathing in deeply as he approached the suspended house, "Breath of the Beast, Fifth Fang: Mince to Bits!"

The attack's name turned out to be an accurate description as, with a series of several continuous diagonal slashes, he minced to bits not only the spider demon but the house as a whole, its debris as well as the splattered remains of the surprised demon after being cut into multiple pieces. After all, all it had taken was the first of those slashes to separate his head from his body and cut the house in half, the several that followed and ripped both of them apart were seemingly only a means to show off. Inosuke meanwhile continued his ascension, before landing atop two intersecting strings above the house, looking down to see it, the demon and most of its web crashing down violently onto the clearing below. Chuckling wryly, the boar-headed swordsman raised one of his hands still holding onto his serrated katana and ever so tactfully raised his middle finger at whatever remained of his opponent below, "Guess you learned your lesson now, creep. You don't mess with Lord Inosuke and live to brag about it."

Still gloating in his victory, Inosuke would kneel down slightly and put his weight on the string beneath him, causing it to stretch down for a moment before once again sending the Demon Slayer flying above the treetops, once again left to make his way through the forest.

* * *

Genya grunted in frustration as he walked aimlessly through the dark forest. Despite waiting for quite a while, as it turned out Zenitsu did not show up. He had been worried at first that something might have happened to him, but after searching the surrounding area and not finding any trace of him, he concluded that after killing the demon, for whatever reason he might've had, the blond had decided to move on ahead without him. This frustrated the scarred boy greatly, but given that he had no means of tracking his comrade, there was also little he could do at that point but to head up the mountain himself and hope he would meet with the others before he ran into another demon. So far, he hadn't seen either, so all he could really do was to continue wandering about and to trust his instincts.

Luck though seemed to finally smile on his side as, amidst his aimless walking, he would hear the sound of water flowing, and be drawn to it. After all, his throat was still very dry, not to mention the aftertaste of the corpse demon's blood still sticking to his mouth even long after having defeated it. Normally, he'd have a canteen with him, but they had foolishly left all their supplies with Kanao when they left her to treat that one wounded Demon Slayer. Sure enough, as he followed the sound of flowing water, he'd see the forestation around him opening up to give way to a large river with the full moon reflected in its waters, causing his shoulders to slump in relief.

"_Good...at least I'm not gonna die of thirst up here._" He thought, finally getting to see a bright side in the fairly bad situation he was in. Walking up to the river's shore, he'd kneel down and cup his hands together, scooping up some water with them and taking a healthy swig of it before closing his eyes and letting out a refreshed sigh. It wasn't the cleanest source of water, sure, but it wasn't like his stomach hadn't handled worse. His brief moment of peace was interrupted however when he'd hear the sound of something shifting in the rivers and, even with his eyes closed, he'd notice how it had suddenly gotten darker, the full moon's light seemingly covered by something. For a moment, he'd assume it was a cloud, but upon opening his eyes, Genya would find out just how wrong he was.

Standing just in front of him was a towering figure of pure muscle, mostly humanoid other than the darker skin with red dot-like markings spread alongside its arms. The illusion of humanity was broken quickly when Genya made out its face from under the creature's long white hair and realized that it had the face of a spider, complete with several black eyes and large tusks at either side of its cheek. It roared fiercely, exposing rows of crooked, sharp teeth and giving the boy a good whiff of its terrible, terrible breath, "...ah, shit." Was all Genya could mutter before the massive spider demon brought down a fist to crush the Demon Slayer.

**A/N: And here I thought the general quarantine thing would allow my writing to go faster but turns out it kind of complicated things a bit, and now my writing is late. To make it clear, it's not like I or anyone I know is infected, but it did muck up my scheduling a bit. Anyway, quarantine is still on, so I should be able to pick up the slack eventually. That said, let's about this chapter.**

**I know it's a bit disappointing not to return to Tanjiro here, but as a great man once said, if writing and sex have one thing in common, it's that you have to hold onto the climax until the right time in order to maximize satisfaction. Actually, no, I just made that up, though I wouldn't be surprised if someone else beat me to it already. The point is, I'm not making you all wait without a good reason. **

**In place of Tanjiro here, we focus on the other Senses instead. Genya gets a pretty decent fight and has another one set up for him by the end of this chapter, but even then he is the least important one in this chapter. More importantly, I want to talk about Zenitsu and Inosuke. After all, Zenitsu has a pretty big step forward in this chapter. I never liked how Kimetsu no Yaiba itself never focused much on Zenitsu's journey of zero to hero, instead just having a trigger in the form of Kaigaku that allowed him to get past his limitations and finally step up. Not that it's a bad character arc, but given the attention it deserved, it really could've been better. Here I started his character arc already by having him defy his cowardice and go help Tanjiro, but only now we're actually seeing him rewarded for it, by rising up another step and claiming a proper win with his own hands, not even having to resort to his OP sleepwalking to do so.**

**Then there's Inosuke...well, Inosuke's character arc really has only barely begun. His fight with the Spider Brother this chapter has a lot to do with me switching up what happens in Canon in order not to make it too repetitive, but really, he did deserve that win. After all, Inosuke hadn't had any major wins in this story so far aside from nameless demons, given his fight with Kyogai was interrupted and he lost to Tanjiro in their brief clash. That said, I really wanted to write a proper one on one fight scene where he can shine before anything else, and through the Spider Brother, it's something I actually managed. PLus, having Kanao and Tanjiro fight him would make it too quick a victory, and Genya is really not suited for a midair fight, in my opinion, seeing as though he is stronger and tougher than the rest, he is still not as quick nor has as much stamina. Not that he couldn't win this fight, but it's much more fun to have Inosuke jumping around in the spiderweb than Genya shooting up with his gun.**

**Ah...I almost forgot. I really gotta point this out, cause I know its gonna be a point of contention if I don't, but those baby-headed spiders? Inosuke fucking slew them all with no remorse. And rightfully so, as far as he's concerned, they're no different than any other humans. Except, as we know, they're not demons, and can be turned back into normal humans given the right treatment. If y'all think that's something I'm gonna gloss over though, then you're wrong? Inosuke's actions will have repercussions later. Which, as a matter of fact, might be quite the theme for him going into this arc. How though, you're gonna have to wait and see. **

**On a closing note, last chapter of Kimetsu no Yaiba wraps with dawn finally arriving as the battle with Muzan rages on, meaning that barring any insane plot twists or unexpected turns, the series will be ending soon. I'm glad we got to see the main trio going up against Muzan as a tag team, even if briefly, and Zenitsu's "Kick me in the back, Gramps!" really gave me the chills. Anyway, some people will still die, according to Kokushibo Gyomei should be knocking on death's door given his use of the Mark. With that said, as some of you might have noticed, I removed the 'tragedy' genre from this fanfic. That's because I realized Kimetsu no Yaiba itself is a tragedy in many ways, so this is bound to bring that over with it. I won't spoiil whether the ending I have in mind for this is happier or not than what the series' does, but one thing I know for sure is that even if I really like the way this series ends, I'm gonna have to be different. How, when, why...I guess it all comes in due time. Maybe I should wait for the series to really end to write down those final plans properly, seeing as the final battle alone really shifted them a lot since it began. **

**Ah, and as always, thanks to DownwardDive. He thinks Kimetsu's ending is gonna happen on Chapter 200, or in other words next week. Doubt it, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.**

**Now onto the reviews.**

_Guest: Is Nezuko going to recover her memories at any point? If so, will that cause her to lose faith in Muzan since he killed her family? Also, is Rui going to have an expanded role? You've mentioned he's special to Muzan and he wishes to work with Nezuko long-term, so I think he may survive past the point he died in canon._

**I would reply all your questions, if that didn't suck out a lot of the fun of you guys finding it for yourselves when you read about it. So you'll have to excuse my discretion. **

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: Well then I am happy to say that you had me fooled with Nezuko :)_

_Thought it also makes me wonder if brother spider doesn't doing anything? In canon thanks to him(I think) whole moutain stinked and Tanjiro couldn't use his nose properly. I know he trained his nose better at this time but I think if there is really bad smell all overplace it would still affect his ability, at least with long range search._

**Hmm...I honestly forgot about that, but on reread...yeah, you're right. It's mentioned briefly right by Zenitsu when he is about to fight the brother and again when Tanjiro and Inosuke are about to meet the Father. Honestly though, like a lot of minor elements of the original story, it's something I think am gonna end up having to write around rather than about. **

_Neema Amiry: Thanks for the chapter again_

**Well, thanks for the review. **

_Shiplx" I really love this story, it is so well made and so are the characters_  
_P.S: I hope that you giyuu x shinobu happens, huge fan of that ship_

**Giyu and Shinobu is also a pairing I'm inclined towards and given they are probably the two most important Pillars in this story, a romance building in between them eventually is very possible. Ultimately though it still has a lot to do with how the readers would react to such a concept though.**

**So that's that for now. Hope y'all are safe and healthy with the shit going down worldwide at the moment. If you like what you read, please leave a review and let me know why. Recently, a new reader by the penname ****Remnae ****has begun reviewing every chapter they read, so it's really fun for me to accompany their line of thought and what they take from each individual chapter. It really reminded me how much these reviews fuel my writing, so I do hope you can contribute to it too. Ah, well, that's enough for today. ****Sky signing out.**


	19. Riverside Brawl

Genya Shinnazugawa wished he hadn't taken this stupid mission in the first place. If truth be told, it really was hard for him to ever deny the chance to slay a demon and prove his worth. After all, he could never truly become a Pillar like his older brother if he was hesitant in taking on a demon. And he truly thought beating that headless bastard had been a step in the right direction towards proving that. "_Sanemi always said that a truly strong Demon Slayer doesn't fear any demon…but this,_", he thought as he stared up the behemoth of a demon, its several spider-like eyes glaring down angrily at him, "_this is just ridiculous._"

The creature brought down its sizable fist to crush him underneath it, but Genya was quick in jumping back and avoiding this terrible fate. Regardless, the impact of the fist on the ground was still enough to send him sprawling a couple feet back before coming to a halt, not even able to get up and forced to roll forward to avoid the spider demon jumping in trying to crush him under its feet the moment the boy came to a stop. Despite avoiding being stomped on and rising again, Genya would move to attack the demon's back, forced to duck when it spun its body around and swung a backhanded fist at his head. Dodging the blow and slipping into his foe's guard, he leaped forward while thrusting his kodachi right at the hulking creature's throat. The blade would sink just under a third of the way in before coming to a stop, causing its wielder the grit his teeth, "_Damn…bastard's got a tough neck!_"

Realizing he would be unable to pierce through like that, Genya planted a foot on the spider demon's chest and used it to push himself away from it. He was not fast enough as the hulking creature swung its arm at him once again and managed to just barely graze him with the back of its hand, only that was enough to send the scarred Demon Slayer flying a good distance, his fall luckily broken by landing on the river and thus leaving him unharmed, "_…and, no shit, it's strong as all hell too…_" Genya thought as he rose, completely drenched and very cold. That, however, was the least of his problems, easily evidenced by the massive spider demon jumping in at him again, landing right in front of the boy while bringing both fists down in another attempt to crush him. Genya would throw himself back in order to evade the spider demon at the last possible moment, and the fists instead exploded on the river, raising a great deal of water into the air and causing it to rain down for a moment on the vicinities.

As the water had obscured its view for a moment, the demon lost track of Genya and looked around growling in search of the boy. The Demon Slayer would hide underwater, taking advantage of the falling water obscuring his sound to rise beside the spider demon, slashing with his kodachi at the beast's heel. The demon roared in pain, collapsing on a knee while angrily trying to swat its foe aside. Genya backed up just short of his its arm range, and swung his blade opposite to it, using his foe's strength against it in a way that allowed the Slayer to slice off a large chunk of flesh off its forearm.

Genya would dive forward and grab the clump of sliced flesh off his opponent, and though he managed to get a hold of it, he'd be hit head on with a swing of the demon's other arm and be sent flying across the air, landing roughly on the river once again. The creature growled and strode towards the fallen Slayer ready to finish what should certainly be a dying foe after that blow. That assumption was quickly proven wrong one as Genya rose from the cold waters once again, chewing on a mouthful of demon flesh.

"You're a pretty chewy motherfucker, ain't ya...?" He asked after swallowing the mouthful of demon flesh and taking another bite of the chunk he tore off, "That's okay though...I've eaten a lot worse not too long ago."

The demon stared at him hatefully as the ripped off the flesh in its arm regenerated, "You don't feel human…" It said in a deep gravelly voice, "But if you can't leave my family alone, I'll just have to crush you, whatever you are!"

"Oh? So the brainless mass of muscle can talk after all!" The boy cackled, raising his kodachi, "Sorry, freak! That won't happen!" Genya told him before declaring proudly, "I'm a Demon Slayer! Killing ugly pieces of shit like you comes with the job!"

The spider demon roared again and rushed at him. Genya would move to meet its dash, forcing the last handful of flesh down his mouth and swallowing it whole. Much like expected, the demon would swing its fist at him the moment the Slayer was close, but with renewed speed, the boy leaped in to land his foot on the back of his descending fist and using it as a platform to jump over the spider demon while slashing at its various eyes. He then took a dive over its head while taking a hold of his luckily waterproof and already loaded gun stored inside his yukata, preparing to draw it and blast the thing's brains from the back of its ugly head while he was still in midair.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if his earlier slash hadn't blinded all of the creature's eyes, as it followed his trajectory with its head and spun around to catch Genya with the back of its fist while mid-draw. The Demon Slayer, however, managed to see the attack coming despite being mid-fall and upside down, and thus reacted by spinning around his body and swinging his kodachi at the arm right before the blow landed and once again sent him flying down towards the river leaving a deep gash on the demon's arm, his blade having cut more than halfway through the length of the limb, slashing through bone and everything.

Furthermore, the spider demon would barely be given the time to regenerate as Genya furiously burst out from the water, kodachi raised above him while glaring at his foe with murder in his eyes. The spider, though evidently not having thought the boy would get up from that blow so quickly, punched at him with its good arm, only for the Demon Slayer to easily predict such a move and dodge it, weaving past the beast while slashing deeply along the side of its midsection. It roared in pain, and once again tried to spin around while trying to backhand the Slayer with its fist. It did not expect that, with immense effort and some skidding back, plus getting proper footing and bracing himself for it, Genya would actually manage to stop its blow, taking a tight hold of the monster's arm.

"Aham Brahmaasmi...Aham Brahmaasmi...Aham Brahmaasmi..." He quietly chanted a Buddhist mantra of fortitude, teeth gritted and veins popping of his head before, with a sudden burst of strength, dragging the creature over him and managing to judo flip it over him and onto its back, hitting the river heavily. Not wasting another moment, Genya slammed down a foot onto the creature's throat in his best attempt to keep it down before raising his kodachi above his head with a two-handed grip and bringing down his blade to chop off its head. Despite his boost of strength however, he was still having trouble cutting through the creature's incredibly tough neck, "C'mon, you son of a bitch...just die already!"

Genya only managed to hack his way a third of the way through the beast's neck before it reacted, and he'd suddenly feel his left arm being grabbed and violently crushed under the creature's grip. He'd barely have time to cry out in pain before he was dragged off the spider demon and shoved underwater. Even with the tight grip on his broken arm, he'd try to rise to the surface, only to have the demon's other hand suddenly grab his neck, shoving him back down into the river's bottom.

Being choked and pushed underwater, Genya found himself quickly losing his breath, his vision growing blurred as he struggled against its grip desperately. The fact that he hadn't at all been prepared for and ended up taking a breath of water the moment he was underwater didn't help much either. It wouldn't be long until his vision began blurring and his consciousness started to slowly slip away, "_C'mon, damnit...fight back...struggle..._" Genya told himself while trying and failing to escape the hulking creature's grip, "_Are you really that pathetic...?_"

Maybe he was. After all, it was obvious the fact that he couldn't use breathing techniques crippled him in relation to the other Senses, let alone his older brother. He remembered, trying to learn the Breath of Wind like Sanemi had from a Demon Slayer Cultivator, only to be unable to even grasp the basics because of an unforeseen disability. He'd been told to give up, to go live a normal life, but how could he ever? His older brother was out there, risking his life as a Demon Slayer, fighting the very same things that had ruined their lives the day every single family member they had left save for the two brothers themselves were killed in a demon attack. How could he ever live with himself if he didn't show that same dedication to avenging their family?

He'd been told however that despite crippling him as a Demon Slayer, his abnormality was not without its advantages. His lungs might've lacked the needed power to learn breathing techniques, but he had a stomach unlike any other, capable of digesting pretty much anything in record speeds, plus another mysterious smaller organ next to it no doctor was able to identify. Said organ, as he figured later, was likely the reason he could eat demons and temporarily gain their powers from it. Initially, that process left him terribly sick and with stomach aches that felt as if he had a spike being run through his body, but eventually, he was able to adapt and began noticing the changes in himself afterward. He'd stolen a nichirin sword from his old cultivator and went off to take the Final Selection exams with his unnatural gift and little formal training. Due to being the last to pick out the metal for his blade back then after his scuffle with who he later learned to be Tanjiro, he'd ended up with a shitty kodachi, almost as a punishment for his actions. However, he did have a specialized gun he stole from his brother, plus a contact to replenish his bullets in between missions.

It was all somewhat crazy, thinking back on it, but he made do. He fought back and killed every single demon that had stood in his way up to this point, and unexpectedly enough managed to forge some sort of bond with a few fellow Slayers, but there he was anyway, having his last few thoughts before he drowned and died. So was the underwhelming in the tale of Genya Shinazugawa...

"_...ah, fuck that! I'm not letting it end like this!_" The Demon Slayer thought then, sheer stubbornness and willpower mixing to give him one last chance which he grasped with all his strength. Taking out his gun from inside his yukata, he pointed it upwards, pulling the trigger with his index to fire a blast of nichirin bullets at the spider demon with enough power to push the creature back, causing it to stumble away from him while roaring in pain at the large wound in its chest. Genya, meanwhile, sat back up, coughing out water before finally being allowed to breathe again, left panting heavily after nearly meeting a wet and cold end underneath the demon's hand.

The spider demon, however, seemed none too pleased to see its foe rising again, and made an immediate dash towards Genya. In spite of still recovering from nearly drowning, the boy was quick to react in order to dodge the beast's tremendously strong blows. He ducked underneath an overhead punch and backed away to avoid being crushed by a hammer blow, giving enough time for his broken arm to heal. He then dashed again at the monster and when it tried to swing its arm to bat the Demon Slayer aside, he would manage to slide over the beast's arm and move behind it, quickly leaping in to climb its back before it could fully turn around again and reach its head, grabbing his kodachi by the hilt with one hand while the other gripped the edgeless side of the blade, wrapping it around the demon's neck and beginning to pull back hard.

The creature roared and thrashed, trying to get Genya off its back, but the boy held on tightly, all the while pulling back his blade deeper into the creature's neck. "Just die already you motherfucker!" He exclaimed, tugging at his blade tighter and tighter while holding onto the beast's back for dear life. He would get over halfway through hacking its head off when the desperate demon decided to fall back first on the river, trying to crush Genya underneath it. Not wanting to be left in a vulnerable position for the beast to try and drown him again, he was forced to jump off its back mid-fall, allowing it to crash down on the water by itself.

It rose again quickly, its neck left hanging in place by a thread but regenerating regardless. Rather than dashing in at Genya again as he expected though, the demon would instead jump away from the boy and towards the shore, stumbling upon landing before collapsing down on all fours, its body shaking uncontrollably. The Demon Slayer saw this and, in spite of not knowing what the demon was going to do, he dashed off after it before it could get back up again. Running through the water would slow him down, but upon reaching the shore he would be able to move in straight towards the downed beast but stop just short of reaching it when a large crack emerged on its back.

He watched in horrid fascination as the creature's body broke apart and out of it rose something even larger. The demon had seemingly undergone a transmutation, towering over the Demon Slayer even more so than before. Its head was bigger, with several more teeth and several more eyes, with the dots marking its arms replaced by protruding spikes. As if that wasn't enough already, Genya would watch as each of its arms split in two, giving it four massive arms to hit him with, each with its series of spikes, "_...this is bad._" He realized with widened eyes, sweating cold as the creature turned its gaze down of him before unleashing a furious roar that echoed its way to that mountain, "_Very bad."_

* * *

Zenitsu would flinch as a distant but nonetheless monstrous roar reached his ears. He wasn't at all eager to meet the thing that would produce such a terrifying sound. Nonetheless, he continued heading up the mountain in search of Tanjiro and Inosuke. If he was being honest with himself though, he currently felt quite skittish. Even after defeating that puppeteer demon, the idea that even more powerful demons lurked in this mountain really didn't help to ease him, and neither did the roar he just heard. Luckily, it seemed to have come from further down in the mountain, so all he needed to do was keep going up, right?

It wouldn't take long for Zenitsu to realize how erroneous that line of thought really was, and it all started when the forestation around him suddenly vanished, opening up to a large clearing and, more notably so, an old decrepit-looking mansion. The boy slowed from his frantic pace as his attention was taken by the seemingly abandoned house, walking up to it curiously. He silently wondered just who would build something like that in such a remote and desolate place. Then, he remembered the remote and desolate house in the mountains where he'd seen Inosuke and Tanjiro first fight in, and how even though he never entered the place, it was obviously full of demons.

"_…yeah, okay, time to get out of here and keep moving._" A sweating Zenitsu thought nervously, backing away from the house but being stopped when he heard someone else speaking.

"A Demon Slayer…all the way here…? Did they not stop you?" A young voice said from above before a figure leaped from atop the mansion, landing right in front of the blond and causing him to back up in surprise. The figure in question looked even younger than himself, wearing a white kimono with a spiderweb-like pattern, but his pale features and dark eyes plus the strong resemblance to the demon he had slain just a while earlier made it clear that this was, in fact, a demon. The boy-looking creature stared at him fiercely with the one eye uncovered by its fringe. "What happened to my family?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about." Zenitsu told him nervously, stepping back as his right hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword.

"I think you do." The childlike demon responded, taking another step closer to the Slayer in complete disregard of his hand gripping the katana, "After all, my family would never let someone like you get this far up the mountain to hurt me without some sort of confrontation...so tell me, Demon Slayer, and I'll be able to deal out your due punishment...which of them did you kill?"

Zenitsu, however, chose not to respond with words, instead drawing his blade and immediately swinging it for the demon's neck to take advantage of his proximity and end the fight before it even began. The demon didn't react in the slightest and, when the blade reached his neck, it would be stopped without barely even piercing skin. The blond widened his eyes in shock while the demon narrowed his own.

"I guess it doesn't really matter who you killed..." He decided, before backhanding Zenitsu and sending him flying some fifty feet back in the process, "In the end, I'd just kill you all the same."

Rising again shakily, the boy would stare up in shock, still dazed from the blow he'd just taken, but painfully aware that he'd heavily underestimated the demon before him, "What...just what are you...?" He asked, left astounded at the boy's strength.

"Hm...I guess it's a fair question. My family knows me as Rui...however, " The newly introduced Rui moved aside his fringe to uncover his eye and the emblem imprinted on his pupil, "your kind probably recognizes me more by the title of Lower Moon Four."

Zenitsu immediately froze as he saw the Lower Moon symbol on the demon's eye. Even after defeating the puppeteering demon earlier and getting a confidence boost from it, he still knew his place among Demon Slayers and the realization that this was, in fact, facing a Demon Moon even more powerful than the one Tanjiro had barely beaten by himself proved way too much for his mental state, leading to him rather unceremoniously fainting, falling down limply on his side.

* * *

Rui stopped then as the blond Demon Slayer fell down seemingly unconscious. He wondered for a second if this was only a trick the boy was using to fool him into getting close and giving him another chance to attack. He didn't much care either way, because it really didn't change what he was going to do. That is to say, he lifted a finger to produce a thin string attached to it with his Blood Demon Art, and raised his hand to bring it down and maybe sever a leg or two. It wasn't like he wanted to kill the boy too quickly, after all.

Right as he was about to do that, however, he'd heard some loud yelling from nearby, and blink before turning to see a strange sight. Flying straight towards him, probably leaping from a nearby tree branch, was a boar-headed Demon Slayer, brandishing two jagged blades and exposing his muscular bare chest for all to see. Rui reacted quickly and swung his arm at the swordsman to slash him in two mid-jump with his string, only for the Slayer to swing one of his jagged blades to meet it. The edge of his blade struggled against the string for a solid moment before, just as expected, the string cut its way through the metal and nearly bisected the boar down to the middle, only for him to spin midair quickly to only narrowly avoid the string and slash at Rui with his other blade, the Lower Moon jumping back in order to dodge the blow.

"Damn...those are sharp!" The beastly swordsman grunted, staring at his blade, its tip diced right off from clashing with the demon's strings. He didn't seem unmotivated in the slightest by it however as he pointed the dull tip of his katana at Rui, "Still, that's to be expected from a Demon Moon! You're gonna make a worthy opponent! Now, come at me!"

Rui blinked at the boy's eagerness at facing him, not having expected such an odd figure to come by. Evidently though, if another Demon Slayer had come through, it further cemented his suspicions that some of his family was no longer among them. It wasn't as if he couldn't replace them, as he'd done so many times in the past before, but it was nonetheless very annoying, "You don't seem to fully realize what you're up against here..."

"Oh, I do! I heard all your bragging, but I'm gonna cut you up all the same!" The Demon Slayer boldly declared, "Lower Moon or not, you're just another demon! I'm gonna slay you just like I did that freak with the spider body!"

Narrowing his eyes, Rui frowned, "...so you killed my brother." He said, more glad at having his answer than saddened by the murder of a family member. Raising his hand, he summoned a string attached to each of its fingertips. "Fine...if it's a fight you want, a fight is what you'll get. Let's see how long it'll be before you start begging for mercy."

The Demon Slayer moved in at him, and Rui lashed out with his strings one by one to intercept him. He watched as the dashing boar dove to the side to avoid the first one, rolling to immediately get up and jump over the second one, bending his body to the side to narrowly avoid the third one and sliding on the ground to evade the last two. Reaching the Lower Moon, he'd try to aim a blow at the neck, only to be forced to suddenly jump when Rui produced five more strings from his free hand and sent them all at him with a horizontal swing of his arm. The swordsman flipped over the demon and his strings, swinging at his neck while directly above him, trying for decapitation despite his awkward position. His foe, however, only moved his head slightly to the side to evade the blow as the swordsman completed his flip by landing behind him, quickly turning around to swing his blades at the Lower Moon, except every single one of his slashes was easily dodged with the barest of motions, until at least the demon decided to flick a finger and raise a string in order to intercept one of his katana, the thread bending with the blow's power, but standing unbroken regardless of the pressure. Rui then took advantage of his foe's open guard to land a kick in his gut, sending the boar-headed swordsman sprawling a good distance away.

"Maybe you understand now," Rui told the Demon Slayer, who grunted, struggling to rise to his feet again after taking such a blow head-on, "What hope do you have of beating me? After all, as your friend there might attest to, my neck is far harder than those strings you're struggling to cut."

Even from underneath the boar head, the swordsman was clearly glaring at him as he rose fully and raised both his blades determined to keep on fighting. Rui though did not care, raising a finger and produced another string from its tip before bringing it down to rapidly whip it at the Demon Slayer. Rather than trying to dodge as Rui expected, however, he instead tightened the grip on both his blades, drawing them both back, "Breath of the Beast, Sixth Fang..." Then, right as the attack was about to land, he swung both blades simultaneously at the string from different directions, "Jagged Gnaw!"

The two katana clashed against the strings for a tense moment, both applying great force from opposite ends before finally managing to cut through the string, causing it to loudly snap under the serrated edges of his blades. Rui widened his eyes in surprise at this, while the boar-headed Slayer cackled in delight, "Guess you're the one who doesn't know what he's up against, huh?" He asked, shooting back the demon's own question at him, visibly annoying the Lower Moon, "I told you already, you're just another demon! Nothing the great Lord Inosuke cannot handle!"

Scoffing, Rui narrowed his eyes, "Alright then…you might be stronger than I initially thought," He admitted begrudgingly, raising both hands and summoning a string to each of his fingertips, "Now let's see how far that strength takes you." With a wave of his hand, Rui would swing five strings horizontally at his opponent, forcing him to leap over them before bringing down his other hand and swinging another five strings at him vertically. Inosuke though spun midair, diving down right in between two of the strings and rolling upon landing to quickly rise, swinging his blade upwards at Rui and catching the demon off-guard, very narrowly hitting him as he backed away at the last moment, the blade instead only tearing a hole into his kimono.

Inosuke would close in, leading to the two locking in a close-range exchange, with his rapid and constant sword swings being avoided by Rui's quick dodging, interrupted occasionally when the demon retaliated with one of his strings and forced the swordsman to dodge before resuming his offensive. This was interrupted when Inosuke brought down both his blades on the Lower Moon, allowing Rui to quickly move behind him, raising his hand and summoning a string in each of his fingers, bringing them all down to shred the Demon Slayer to pieces. Inosuke reacted quickly, however, kicking his hand aside and causing the strings to miss in a display of unnatural flexibility before turning around and slashing at him with his unbroken sword, finally managing to get a hit in finally as the blade left a gash on the side of Rui's face.

The Lower Moon Four leaped back in frustration at actually getting hit by the Demon Slayer, even as the cut in his face quickly healed. Inosuke once again moved after him, leading him to snarl before bringing down a single string on the swordsman, once again trying to hack him apart. Rather than having it hit head-on though, Inosuke swung his shortened blade to deflect it to the side, and close in on the demon, stabbing at him with his unbroken sword. Rui would grit his teeth as the blade's serrated edge grazed along the side of his neck, actually managing to cut past his skin somewhat, but was still far from decapitating him. Still, this whole development angered the Lower Moon greatly, to the point where he immediately tried to retaliate by summoning and bringing down ten strings at once on Inosuke, practically forcing the swordsman to back away.

Rui was beyond enraged at these developments, even as the cut on his neck healed as well, and the fact that the boar-headed swordsman who had been giving him so much trouble was, in turn, laughing ecstatically at his expense did little in diminishing that, "Oh, man! You were right! That neck of yours is hella tough!" He raised both his blades gleefully, "Still, I guess I'll just have to swing harder if I wanna kill your ass!"

"_This human...this annoying, pesky human..._" The demon grit his teeth annoyedly for a moment, but proceeded to take a deep breath, "_No...calm down. It's been too long since anyone's even challenged me...I've grown used to easier fights._" Rui concluded, before glancing over to the side, some thirty or so feet away, where the yellow-clad Demon Slayer was still lying unconscious in the ground. "_Maybe I should consider going about this in a more tactical way..._" He thought, narrowing his eyes as Inosuke dashed in at him again, and he raised a single finger with a thread attached to it, but rather than aiming it at the boar, he instead turned around and began bringing it down towards the downed Demon Slayer behind him.

"Wait, stop! He's got nothing to do with this!" Inosuke declared angrily, before recklessly moving in at the Lower Moon with a sudden burst of speed, and causing Rui to suddenly grin.

"_Gotcha._" The demon thought triumphantly, spinning around again while redirecting the string so it would instead cut into the ground and rise on the other side to rise towards Inosuke ready to cut him down from below. Even behind the boar head, Rui could clearly see the panic on his foe during that one moment as he realized he'd made a deadly mistake, and had no time to block nor dodge the incoming attack. He would've certainly been met with a gruesome end, had a bolt of lightning not rushed right past the Lower Moon and obscured his vision for a moment, clearing away to reveal an unharmed Inosuke after having landed on the ground and the string meant to claim his life now snapped. The beastly Demon Slayer was staring to the side where the bolt of lightning had died down to reveal the form of the other yellow-clad Demon Slayer, standing there with his sheathed blade.

"Breath of Thunder, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash." He murmured quietly, with Rui staring at him in shock while Inosuke once again burst into glorious laughter at the arrival of his comrade.

"Damn, blondie! And here I thought you were a total chump, but I guess you were hiding your talents after all!" He declared gleefully, to which the blond only silently turned to face their common foe with his hand still wrapped around his katana's hilt, with Inosuke replying by raising his two swords, "Alright then, let's take this bastard down together!"

Rui frowned for a moment before sighing, "...alright then, I suppose I have to do this the hard way then." He decided, calling a string to each of his fingers and pulling them back tightly as he started pouring his blood into them, dyeing them red while turning the threads sharper and more durable, "If nothing else, this is the perfect chance to test myself again... so come on now, Demon Slayers, and let us see the limits of my powers..."

* * *

Genya was in trouble. The hulking spider monster was an intimidating opponent to begin with, no doubt about it, however after its evolution and its consequent sprouting of two more arms plus several more spikes not to mention becoming overall even larger, it seemed as his foe had grown twice over in power. Not even the few extra bites of demon flesh he'd managed to take from it had seemed to bridge their difference in strength, and even after shooting it two more times with his gun, it had only served to slow the creature slightly. With all that in mind, he was quite a bit in pain when he rose from the river waters once again, the bleeding hole on his chest from being backhanded by one of the demon's spiked hands quickly healing, but forcing him to tear off his tattered Yukata, revealing the hidden holster for his gun tied around his back. That though was only one of the several blows he'd taken, of which his demonification had all healed.

It wasn't as if he could take much of a breather either, as the creature was already rushing. in at him once again from upstream, wildly moving on all fours, or rather all six, with his two extra arms aiding greatly in his propulsion towards the Demon Slayer. Genya drew his gun, quickly loading it to try and blast the demon in the face to try and halt its advance, but was too slow, and ended up forced to leap to the side in order to avoid being run over by the dashing creature. He tried to get an aim at its head but would be unable to do so as the monster made a sudden turn and grabbed onto his gun with one of its many hands right before the boy pulled the trigger, blasting said hand right off. Not that it made much difference as the beast grabbed onto his arm and once again broke it under its grip. Genya did what he could in the close proximity to his foe and stabbed the spider demon through the gut, but had his other arm grabbed and subsequently broken as well, forced to let go of his kodachi and raised by both arms to be left hanging into the air as the creature's other two arms, including a newly regenerated one, laid down a brutal beating onto the scarred boy, striking at him with merciless punches that resulted in several broken bones, before throwing him upwards and uppercutting his entire body with its two right arms, mustering enough power to send him flying high into the air.

Given the condition he was in, Genya could barely think through the pain as he was flung skyward, with the sole exception of a passing thought about how much he hated gravity on the way down before his fall was broken by a tree branch, which he impacted with enough force to immediately break it, but that luckily diminished the eventual impact on the ground. Despite being no stranger to pain, he could only wonder how many broken bones were in his body at that moment. He knew they would heal, he had eaten enough of the bastard's flesh to ensure it so, but that still didn't solve the ten feet tall problem that was currently stomping its way towards him, surely intent on finishing its wounded foe off, one of its hands pulling the kodachi stabbed onto its gut off with its index and thumb before carelessly discarding it onto the river.

Sure enough, upon reaching Genya's battered body, the demon proceeded to grab the boy by his hair and pulled him up, lifting him into the air before grabbing onto his head with two hands, both by the front and by the back, while the last hand took a tight grip around his neck from behind. Before the boy could even process what the creature was about to do, it would begin to pull, clearly intent on literally ripping his head off his body, and by the amount of pain he felt, Genya knew it wouldn't be long until it was successful. He realized then that he was close to death and wondered silently why was he not having an epiphany or any world-changing thoughts. Why is it that the only thing he could see was his bloodied older brother with a cleaver on his hand standing over the lifeless body of their mother?

Before that thought could settle, or be dreadfully cut off, Genya would hear the sound of something cutting into flesh and would be unceremoniously dropped alongside four of the demon's maimed hands. Realizing what the clumps of flesh surrounding him were, the boy struggled to push himself up in order to see what was happening and would widen his eyes. The demon was no longer paying attention to him, staring hatefully at its newly arrived opponent as his hands regenerated, that being a black-haired girl with her back turned to them, wearing a white cloak over a Demon Slayer's uniform surrounded by what looked like shining rose petals emerging from her pink sword, which she slashed at empty air with clean the blade off the spider demon's blood, "Sorry I'm late." Kanao apologized, glancing over at her Slayer comrade who was staring back at her in astonishment, "But I am here to help."

**A/N: Here is an out-of-schedule chapter, not to mention a somewhat short one too. Turns out sticking myself inside a house for weeks at end did no good for my writing. But it's fine, cause now I'm here, and the chapter's here, so I hope y'all enjoyed what I had to write even if, again, I'm holding back on Tanjiro and Chihime. I really felt it would be best to finish the two tag team fights I have very clearly set up by the end of this chapter before actually moving onto that.**

**For the first one, most of this chapter is dedicated to it, that being Genya and later Kanao versus the Father Spider Demon. I took this chance to showcase some of Genya's backstory in this chapter, such as alluding to his family's fate and talking about his time before taking the Final Selection and becoming a Demon Slayer. Some of you might notice there are no mentions of Gyomei in that backstory, even though he clearly had an effect on Genya given the whole Buddhist mantra thing. Well, I initially forgot it and went back to rewrite that part, but then I realized there's nothing there that contradicts his presence either, so I decided to focus on that aspect itself after this arc when I start introducing more pillars and, consequently, Gyomei. Also, on that topic, the mantra for strength Genya uses is found after a quick google search, and translates roughly to "I am absolute". Also, one last thing regarding Genya also, but I'm pretty sure they didn't have waterproof guns back then, but in a series of magic-wielding demons, I don't think that is too far to take one's suspension of disbelief.**

**Then we have Kanao, who really arrives at the end of this chapter, so there really isn't that much to say about her. Though I did realize that some new information regarding her backstory has been released, and it kinda contradicts some stuff I had her say earlier in the story, so I am currently debating whether to go back to fix it or to just leave it as is. And though I almost forgot, one extra change I had done to the Spider Demon was giving it two more arms post-transmutation, similar to how I messed around with the other spider family members to make them all a bit stronger. Might be a bit similar to the one four-armed demon who Kanao faced off in her debut back in the Final Selection, but oh well, whatever works.**

**With that all said, we move on to the second battle, which is Inosuke and Zenitsu vs Rui. Even if it didn't get much of a spotlight this chapter, it's a fight I've been waiting quite a while to get to. And I know there might be some who are dubious on my power scaling here, but I'll try to explain my view on it. The thing here is that Rui, despite being a ridiculously strong demon, is not a fighter foremost, and thus had some trouble with Inosuke when he managed to pose somewhat of a threat to him due to not being used to fighting someone who can keep up. On the other hand Inosuke, despite not having undergone the same kind of training Zenitsu did to justify his growth in strength, he did take a different turn than in Canon, and was motivated by his one-sided-rivalry with Tanjiro to push himself extra hard following their fight at the Drum House, allowing him to not stay too far behind his comrades here. How far that strength will take them against an opponent like Rui is something I hope to cover in the next chapter, as well as wrapping up the aforementioned Spider Demon fight as to finally move on to the main event.**

**Now, I think its kinda obligatory for me to mention the manga after the last chapter which, SPOILERS, should it not be a fakeout...damn. Like, damn. I still kinda think Tanjiro is not definitely dead and we might get something like a meeting with his family or Yoriichi in the afterlife before he comes back, but I'm not ruling out the very real possibility that he is indeed dead. Either way, a bunch of Pillars are also actually dead now, so there's that, but in the end I think that kinda proves my point in removing the tragedy genre from this story, given that the burden of a tragedy already comes by nature with something like Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

**Anyhow, my thanks goes to DownwardDive, even though he really didn't wait to rub in the fact that I was wrong about obanai in my face. Well, he was wrong too though, it's chapter 200 and the manga clearly hasn't ended, so yeah.**

**So, moving onto the reviews...**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: Well it was good, thought I really want to read about Nezuko and Tanjiro meeting :P_

**I'm sure you do, but you gotta get through the rest before you get to the climax, so hang with me for another chapter.**

_Ldylan2001:you're quarantined as well, pretty sucky situation huh? I've been really enjoying this story, look forward to every update. Keep up the good work._

**Yep...some days are less insanity-prone than others, but it still overall sucks to be stuck home. At least I'm managing to get back to writing now.**

_Neema Amiry: Isolation is going to be interesting_

**Is it now?**

_Sandi091000:Excellent chapter!_

**Thanks.**

**So, those are the reviews. Leave one yourself, if you will, and I'll have it replied by the end of next chapter. It's always a great motivator for my writing. Anyway, that is all for today, see you soon and stay safe. Sky signing out.**


	20. Bloody Strings

Kanao Tsuyuri was moving through the treetops, leaping from branch to branch while making her way up Natagumo Mountain. She had just finished patching up the Demon Slayer she had come to know as Murata from her short conversation with him, telling him to stay at the base of the mountain until they got back before starting to move off after her comrades, hoping to catch up to them sometime soon. Turns out though they had, for reasons she really could not figure out, the other Senses had moved ahead without waiting for her. She couldn't help but wonder if this meant something bad, but either way, she had no choice but to move on and search for them. For the longest time that search didn't really lead anywhere, other than finding some collapsed house in the middle of a clearing at some point but, moving on, that finally would change when she stopped at one point jumping from tree branch to tree branch and decided to go a bit higher to see if she noticed anything of note from up there. Turns though, she did, but it was not exactly what she had been expecting.

While looking around to see anything different from the endless trees, she'd see something flying up into the sky at the distance. Though it was very dark and notably far away, her naturally gifted eyesight managed to make it out as a person, even if she wasn't able to tell who exactly it was. Regardless, Kanao jumped down to the ground before dashing off at the flying person's direction, hoping to make it there quickly. After nearly a minute of running, the trees around her would suddenly open up, and she would be able to see in the distance a massive four-armed demon with the face of a spider holding who she recognized as Genya with all of its hands, looking as if it was trying to rip the boy's head off. Without a moment of hesitation, Kanao breathed in and gripped the hilt of her katana, dashing in to leap forward, "_Breath of Flowers, First Form: Bleeding Rose Petals,_" She thought, her drawn blade shining bright white before it sliced all four of the creature's hands at the wrist with a single slash, the light on her blade breaking down into several petal-like constructs of light tainted red by the creature's blood, following her as she flipped midair and smoothly landed by the riverbed.

The spider demon immediately turned its attention towards her, roaring in a mixture of pain and anger. Genya, in the meantime, looked pretty dazed, not surprising given his state, namely covered in blood and bruises, but after a moment he seemed to recognize her as he widened his eyes in surprise. She slashed her blade into nothing to clean it from the demon's blood, thinking back to what Tanjiro had told her right before the mission started. How she was stronger than the others, so she should step in to help them should this exact scenario come into play. Kanao found it odd how accurately he'd predicted this.

"_Well, one way or the other, its time to keep that promise._" She thought, turning around to face the demon, glancing briefly at Genya, "Sorry I'm late. But I am here to help." Kanao told him, before pausing for a moment and realizing that the fact of her being there to help was probably implicit by her helping him already. Expressing herself with words sure was hard sometimes.

The demon though was not so kind as to wait for her line of thought to finish, and rushed her with its four regenerated arms, punching at her with its two right fists. The girl though only glanced at it for a moment before taking a step back not a moment too late, watching as the fists slowly sailed by her before swinging her blade and using the demon's own momentum to deeply slash it across its midsection, casually walking past it. The creature angrily spun around and tried to crush her underneath its fists, but its blows hit nothing but the ground, as Kanao had already jumped away from it, smoothly landing beside the fallen Genya.

"I can see you are in no fighting condition," She noted, keeping her eyes fixed on the demon, her blade raised with a two-handed grip before her, "Do you think you are capable of moving into a safer location?"

"Well…motherfucker's definitely broke my arms, and it really feels like he's broken my legs…" Genya grunted, before grinning as he reached out and grabbed onto one of the demon's bisected hands lying nearby before it could begin disintegrating too far, "Meaning give me a minute and I'll be up kicking its ass with you."

Kanao frowned but nodded, having heard before about Genya peculiarities, for the lack of a better word, and decided to take his word for it. The demon rushed them both and she quickly decided it was best to make sure it didn't get too close to her fellow Demon Slayer while he healed, thus meeting his dash to jump over it, flipping and delivering a gash on its shoulder to keep its attention, even as she landed and ducked under its swinging arms and backed away to avoid being crushed by its foot. She continued dodging, moving towards the shore as the demon pursued her, throwing a series of quick and powerful punches at her with all its four arms, of which she nonetheless read through and dodged every single one of them with ease, its speed and unpredictability falling well within the limits of what her enhanced eyesight could perceive. Eventually, the beast would grow frustrated, and this would reflect in one of his overswung punches, which Kanao easily ducked under, before pushing herself back to slide in between his legs, slashing at the demon's heel as she moved by and causing it to lose balance collapse on the river. Seeing that, the girl came to a quick stop and dashed to try and go for the demon's neck while it was still down, but she underestimated it as the creature pushed itself up again quicker than expected, and swung two of its arms towards her in aiming to catch her with their spikes, but Kanao was able to only barely come to a stop and jump away in time to avoid them.

Roaring, the creature rose again, and lifted with all its four hands a nearby boulder over half its size over its head, crushing it to pieces with its sheer strength, and beginning to pick up the large debris that fell to its feet to hurl towards Kanao in quick succession with all its four arms. She managed to dodge them all rather easily, but it did prevent her from getting too close to the demon, seeing as if even a single one of those hit her, she knew the consequences could be. The creature was halfway done through its pile of rocks before a figure suddenly rushed beside her and battered aside one of the rocks with nothing but a punch. Kanao blinked in surprise as Genya then turned to look at her, blood dirtying the corners of his mouth and veins popping throughout his head, not to mention the sharp teeth and the single left eye that had its sclerae darkened. She had to catch herself in order not to swing her sword at him in sheer instinct, but despite the demonic changes his body had undertaken, she could see that there was still something very human about him in his eyes. The two locked gazes for a moment before Kanao nodded at him, a silent agreement to work together in order to take down their common foe.

Genya dashed on ahead, and Kanao followed quickly behind, the former batting aside the incoming debris thrown at them with his bare hands while she took refuge behind him in order to approach the demon. As they did so, the creature would angrily swing both its right arms in a punch at the demonic-looking boy, under which he ducked to avoid the upper arm and managed to take a hold of and stop the second arm despite skidding back slightly because of it. Before it could swing down another one of its arms to crush him, however, Kanao would leap on his back and use it as a stepping stone to jump towards the demon, spinning her body midair and delivering a precise horizontal sword strike to his neck. Despite that, she was only able to produce a gash on its side rather than cutting all the way through, surprising her with just how tough this monster was. The Tsuguko managed to land a foot on its shoulder and jump away before it could deliver any further retaliation though. Genya, on the other hand, was not as lucky and was dragged upwards by the arm he was tightly holding onto before having a blow delivered to his side from another one of their opponent's fists, sending him flying into the river.

Using her acute vision, Kanao was able to locate and land atop a rock in the middle of the river, shallow enough so the water didn't get past her heel and wouldn't much affect her movements. Luckily too as, with Genya dealt with for the time being, the spider demon decided to focus its full efforts on her, leaping in after her with all fours of its arms raised in preparation to bring them all down and crush her. She was able though to jump over to the other side of the river before the demon came crashing down, crushing the boulder she'd been standing on moments ago into pieces with little difficulty. This though would also give it more ammunition to continue throwing more debris at her, which Kanao was able to continue dodging fairly easily.

She kept on evading the rocks, knowing against an opponent like that, it wouldn't be wise to get in too close carelessly. Its barrage of debris though wouldn't last too long as another flying boulder smashed down onto its head from behind, causing the beast to stumble forward and lose balance before turning around to face its attacker. Having dealt the demon a taste of its own medicine, Genya stood his ground panting. Kanao took the chance to move, jumping over to another rock in the middle of the river. While midair, she watched as the demon discarded his debris projectiles and rush him on all fours, with two other arms raised to attack Genya. The boy was able to narrowly dodge being run over by it but was grazed by one of the swinging arms and knocked to the side, with the demon quickly stopping its rush to jump after him. Where Genya landed though, Kanao would be able to make out a distinct shape underwater with her acute vision while she was midair, and call out her fellow Demon Slayer, "Genya! Three meters to your left!"

The demonified boy stood from the blow and seemed to have heard her advice, as he unquestioningly leapt to his left when the beast nearly crushed him in its landing. It persistently chased Genya, already swinging at him, but as the boy rose again he'd swing too and slash off the creature's extended arm with his retrieved kodachi. The demon was momentarily surprised, which allowed him to try and close in to go for a decapitation, but his blade would barely reach as one of the creature's lower arms punched him hard on the gut and flung him down into the water again.

Kanao, in the meantime, had landed atop a rock amidst the river, and seeing the demon focusing on Genya, jumped again towards it, soaring through the air while breathing deeply in preparation to strike it down with a Breath of Flowers technique. She would be surprised, however, when it knocked down Genya and raised all its arms clearly intended to bring them all down with surely enough force to turn the boy into a thick paste to be washed away by the river, something the girl was not fully sure even he could heal. The situation put Kanao in a difficult position, seeing as the demon was not at all paying attention to her, giving her had the perfect chance to end its life with one certain blow. On the other hand, however, she was not fully sure she could do just that before it pummeled her comrade to death.

"_...I'm counting on you to step in and help them._" She could clearly hear Tanjiro's voice in her head repeating his earlier words, making the half-a-second decision suddenly seem like it always had an obvious choice. Kanao left her stance and switched her position midair so she was diving towards the spider demon, allowing her to reach it faster and to fly right in between its raised arm and its head, flipping midair to slash it across the chest as she landed in front of a rising Genya.

The creature staggered a step back from the cut, its blow interrupted by the Tsuguko's sudden appearance, but roared angrily after regaining its composure, "You keep getting in the way right before the best part...but I will kill you two anyway! It's useless! Useless! Useless!" It declared boisterously with its gravelly voice while unleashing a barrage of punches with all its four arms.

That moment however was all Kanao needed to regain her breath and hastily enter a stance for another one of her techniques, "Breath of Flowers, Fifth Form: Peony of Futility." She announced, countering his blows with seven consecutive slashes of her sword. Had she not been rushed in her technique, she might have had enough preparation to throw that extra blow, since with the seven she did throw, she managed to meet and slash three out of the four arms, each with two blows, but the one her technique had missed, which she'd only been able to land the final blow in without cutting it off fully, was the one that ultimately ended up punching her in the midsection the moment her technique came to a close.

Luckily, Genya had risen behind her, and managed to grab her as she was thrown back, preventing any impact damage, but still sent skidding all the way to the river shore. Kanao, on the other hand, had been left gasping. Even while contorting her gut muscles to soften the blow and moving back together with the impact, she had still been able to get a feel of the hulking spider demon's sheer power. She was surprised in fact that, even being able to heal it, Genya was getting back up from those blows one after another with little sign of pain. Speaking of whom, despite having caught Kanao almost in retribution for saving him earlier, the boy was staring transfixed at the spider demon with a wild look in his mismatched eyes. When Kanao noticed that, a memory came back from her childhood living in the slums and many times seeing stray dogs fighting over scarps of food. The look on their eyes when they were about to pounce on one another was almost the same as the one Genya was currently glaring at the creature with.

"Genya..." She called out, managing to regain his attention then, the wild look fading once he looked down at her and realized he was still holding onto the girl even though he had long secured her safety, leading to him blushing before quickly but silently letting go and awkwardly backing away from her. This was enough to relax Kanao a bit as she saw his human side emerge again, and allowed her to return her focus to the spider demon, now having leaped to the other shore to ensure some distance it could use to regenerate its maimed arms, "Alright...we'll attack the demon together. If we can get another opening, I'm sure I can use a Breath Technique to take it down."

Seeming to have regained some conscience, Genya turned towards the demon again, this time with some more restraint, "...okay. Let's do this then." He declared, to which Kanao only nodded, and took a step forward before dashing off across the river, followed closely by the boy. Noticing the incoming humans, the healed spider demon then roared, and proceeded to grab a nearby tree with all four of its arms and, with a powerful tug, rip it right out of the ground roots and all. The two Demon Slayers could only stare in surprise as the beast swung the whole tree at them like a massive club. Genya decided to take a hard dive in order to dodge, while Kanao instead opted to jump over the swinging tree. The beast responded by completing the swing and raising the trunk over its head and bring it down to squash the two in one go, and while she managed to sidestep it before being crushed under the demon's makeshift weapon, Genya was not so lucky, having been midway through rising again when he was caught under the massive tree, which was subsequently kicked away by the demon and sent hurling all the way across the river with the Slayer underneath it.

Despite worried for her comrade, Kanao still decided to focus on the spider demon and getting the final attack as soon as possible, but after losing its hands twice over now, the creature wasn't keen on letting Kanao get up close again. It smashed all four of its fists down on the ground as she approached to crack apart the ground and shake up her balance, but the Tsuguko would jump in time to avoid the shockwave of the blow, raising her sword to bring it down on the demon's neck. It noticed that in time and tried to punch her mid-fall, but Kanao was quick enough to shift her body and dodge the attack while sacrificing her own, landing behind the demon and immediately being forced to deal with it turning around and using all its arms to try and get a hold of her, but her nimble nature allowed the girl to evade all those attempts while backing up, before grabbing tightly onto her sword, preparing to retaliate only to catch sight at what was coming from behind the demon and widening her eyes.

Seeing the look on her face, the spider demon turned around in confusion and saw the same tree it had just kicked across the river flying roots first right at it. It turned around just as Kanao jumped, and managed to grab onto the trunk with all its hands, trying to stop the large tree but nonetheless left skidding a good distance at the insane power the tree had been thrown with. However, he did soon come to a stop, and with little struggle, proceeded to rip apart the tree with all its four arms in a display of strength, roaring angrily. It didn't notice, until the last possible moment, Kanao. Who, after jumping, had landed on the side of the tree and run along its length as it came to a stop, jumping as the demon tore it apart and finally noticed her, except by then she was already diving at him from amidst the thousands of splinters from the bark it had ripped apart, breathing in with her stance readied, "Breath of Flowers, Fourth Form: Safflower Robe." Kanao announced twisting midair and having her sword curve with her before delivering a sudden but certain slash to the demon's throat, her blade slicing through flesh and bone to finally behead the hulking beast, while she simply spun again and smoothly landed on a single knee, sheathing away her sword as the creature's limp body collapsed heavily behind her.

Even with the spider demon finally slain, Kanao did not allow herself much time to bask in her victory as she turned away from its quickly disintegrating corpse and rushed back to the river to check on Genya. Once she did reach the river again, she'd see him standing still on the other shore, bloody and battered, as being crushed under that tree had certainly done him no good but he seemed to have managed to at least muster enough strength to fling back the tree at the demon and give her the opening for a killing blow. The girl jumped across the river to reach him and was about to call him out as she approached the scarred boy when she suddenly stopped herself.

Despite not noticing it before, she now had managed to take a good look at Genya's face, and the expression he had was enough to startle even her. The look of a stray dog didn't even compare to the blank stare in his eyes as he breathed heavily, his pupils having actually disappeared leaving only mismatched black and white orbs in their place, his sharpened teeth grit together and veins popping all around his head in exertion as he continued panting. Nervously, Kanao mustered through her hesitation and called him out again, "Genya...?" She hoped it would snap him out of it again, but instead, it only caused the demonic-looking boy to turn his attention towards her, before beginning stumbling towards the girl, causing her to step back and uneasily grip the hilt of her sword, her lips pursing, "Snap out of it, Genya!" She tried telling him, but would only be given a response in the form of a deep throaty sound similar to that of a growl.

The boy continued walking towards her, and Kanao was a moment away from drawing her sword when he suddenly stopped, lurching suddenly as he raised a hand to his head, grunting as if he was having a heavy headache and tightly shutting his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they were no longer pupilless, and after another moment, the black would fade from the sclerae in his eye, replaced by the usual white. He looked at her groggily for a moment, "Ka...nao...?" He muttered quietly before the stress seemed to overcome him and his body just suddenly went limp, causing Genya to collapse and forcing the Tsuguko to catch him, managing to hold her fellow Sense easily despite his larger frame.

Despite that, Kanao was relieved he had returned to normal, having genuinely thought for a moment there she might have to use her blade on a fellow Demon Slayer. That sure would've been hard explaining to Tanjiro... "Are you okay?" She asked the barely conscious boy.

"I'll survive...I think." He grunted out in pain as the girl shouldered his arm and began walking with him, carrying most of his weight as they went.

Kanao nodded, narrowing her eyes before asking, "I was surprised to see you fighting alone...where did the others go?"

"It's a long story..." Genya sighed, "I was supposed to stick with Zenitsu, but he ended up running ahead and I ran into that thing...right now I have no idea where any of them are."

"...alright. I'll take you down the mountain to safety and patch you up there before going back up to search for the rest." She told him then.

"No, wait!" The boy exclaimed, seeming to remember something suddenly "I'm still missing my gun...I think I dropped it by the shore while fighting that bastard!"

"...okay, we'll find your gun first, and then I'll take you down the mountain." Kanao decided, before dragging him along her to do just that. Even then though, not knowing what happened to the other Senses and, surprising herself, she couldn't help but worry somewhat about their safety, "_Wherever they are...I really hope they're not in danger._"

* * *

Some ways up the mountain, Inosuke Hashibira held his two jagged blades before him, Zenitsu standing just a few feet to the side with his head lowered and a hand holding his sheathed katana by the hilt. Before the two stood what was certainly the strongest demon either of the boys ever had to face, coming in the form of a small white-haired boy, Lower Moon Four Rui stood glared him down intensely, the several strings attached to each of his fingertips reddened in his own blood. With a swing of his wrists, he'd suddenly reshaped the battlefield, hanging various of his deadly red threads extended end to end from the ground to differents trees and the decrepit mansion behind him, essentially covering the clearing in obstacles for the two. He then lowered his hands, and summoned ten of the red strings for each of his fingers before looking over at them with his dark mismatched eyes, silently daring either of the Demon Slayers to come at him.

The clearing was oddly silent other than the wind cutting through Rui's sharp threads, no noise shared between the three of them for a good few seconds. Even the usually loud Inosuke stood in place, his body trembling, "_I can't believe it..._" He thought to himself, "_This guy really is no joke...I can feel the bloodlust in his eyes..._" Beneath his boar head, his lips suddenly twisted into a wide grin, "_I can't stop shaking in excitement!_" In all his brashness, even he knew though that if he were to recklessly approach this opponent with all those strings spread out, he'd only be spelling certain death for himself. As much as he hated to admit it, Inosuke would have to use his head in this situation, and not in the usual literal way Tanjiro infamously used.

"Yo, blondie! Why don't you go ahead and take a swing at this guy first?" The boar-headed boy uncharacteristically offered his ally, "I've got a thing I need to do first, but I'll be right behind ya."

Meeting Inosuke's uncharacteristic offer with an uncharacteristic response of his own, Zenitsu lowered his head and shifted his feet back, before suddenly dashing off at the Lower Moon, actually surprising Inosuke at how unhesitant the not-so-cowardly blond had been in moving in at such a dangerous foe. He dashed past the extended threads with only the minimal movement needed to evade them in order to lose as little speed as possible, and once he had a clear shot at Rui, the boy would breathe in and push his guard up with his thumb, gripping his hilt tightly. Seeing thus, the demon would narrow his eyes and raise one of his hands as well as the strings attached to them, bringing it down just as electricity flashed at Zenitsu and he disappeared in a bolt of lightning with his signature Thunderclap and Flash. Despite being unable to close in on Rui due to the strings, the technique at least allowed him to avoid these, rolling past the Lower Moon and rising to skid back some distance still. Rui spun around and attempted to swing his threads horizontally at the Demon Slayer, but would be a moment too late as the boy's foot sunk down into the dirt, coming to a stop while breathing deeply, allowing lightning to shroud him once again. And then, another moment later, he'd closed the distance with Rui, slashing most of the fingers in his swinging hand and preventing him from unleashing his strings. Zenitsu switched around his blade and prepared to swing again with decapitation in mind, but the Lower Moon would use the only remaining finger in his left hand, the thumb, to unleash one of the threads upon the boy, forcing him to abandon his attack and back away to dodge.

Inosuke meanwhile watched all this with great amusement, delighted at seeing the cocky demon being pushed back by his fellow Sense, except that was not really the reason he had sent Zenitsu up ahead. Breathing in and stretching both arms to the side, the boy focused before calling out, "Breath of the Beast, Seventh Fang: Spatial Awareness!" Like a sonar, Inosuke suddenly spread out his incredible sense of touch throughout the entire clearing, getting a crystal clear picture on the position of the battlefield, from the trees surrounding it to the blades of grass beneath their feet and even the insides of the decrepit mansion. Most importantly of all though, he now had in his head a clear map of every single one of the thirty-two strings Rui had stretched out as traps for the Demon Slayers. Grinning, he'd suddenly bend his knees before, in a burst of speed, shooting off from his position straight towards the Lower Moon, moving through the extended red threads with little to no difficulty.

Rui, having his focus fixed on Zenitsu, didn't notice Inosuke until the last moment and narrowly dodged the blow by quickly moving to the side, receiving only a shallow cut on his arm from it, "_Damn! The bastard is getting quicker..._" The boy thought with a grunt just as Zenitsu dashed past him and towards the demon, with the wild swordsman quick to follow. Rui called upon five more strings with his newly regenerated fingers and swung them horizontally at the two Slayers, forcing them to jump over it to dodge them before raising his other hand to call upon five more strings in order to bring them down and shred them apart while midair. This once again forced Inosuke to think quickly and seeing his ally directly underneath him while both were midair gave him an idea, "Yo blondie! Stay sharp!" He shouted, pressing the sole of his feet against Zenitsu's own before kicking him right towards Rui, hoping the blond had caught on in time.

Luckily, he had, and Zenitsu upstaged his own earlier feat by this time slashing off the demon's entire hand before he brought down his strings to slash at them. Rui grit his teeth in annoyance and pain, but summoned more strings in his remaining hand and sent two subsequent ones at Zenitsu as the boy flipped and landed some distance behind him, but quickly had to turn around again and raise his remaining three strings defensively to block Inosuke's two descending blades with them, before kicking him in the gut to knock the boy back.

With his earlier Spatial Awareness though, Inosuke was aware that there was one of those extended strings on the direction he'd just been thrown towards, and was forced to stab both blades down onto the ground as he landed from the blow to decrease his momentum enough to stop before he reached the string. He only narrowly managed to do so, having to actually bend back with his natural flexibility to avoid having his back cut by the red thread.

Inosuke grunted, stumbling back forward in time to see Zenitsu approaching Rui again after the demon had turned his attention to him in a moment. The blond boy had raised his blade defensively as Rui lashed out vertically with his strings, one at a time but still in quick sequence. Zenitsu would manage to deflect the two first by quickly twirling his blade, and was forced to jump midair the last vertical string, flipping sideways over it and using that momentum to strike at the demon's neck upon landing. And he would but even then his blade barely sunk in, Rui having purposely allowed the blow to land in as to get a close shot at the Demon Slayer. "I can see you haven't learned the first time…" He declared with a grin while grabbing onto the boy's yellow haori and pulling him closer, all the while using his newly regenerated hand and the strings it summoned to cut him to pieces.

Instead of a rain of blood as expected though, it would be instead a rain of fabric, as the haori was torn to pieces, but its owner now stood some twenty feet back, donning only his Demon Slayer garbs with his head still lowered, evidently annoying the Lower Moon all the further. Inosuke had long grown tired of staying in the sidelines by then and was making a straight dash towards Rui. Likewise, Zenitsu had resheathed his blade and stood in an all too familiar stance as lightning sparked around him. Rui would notice the two about to attack though, but instead of retaliating, he just narrowed his eyes and used one of his strings to strike at the ground beneath him, raising a cloud of dust that blocked the boys' view of him just as either was about to strike.

"Breath of the Beast, Third Fang: Rip and Devour!" Inosuke boisterously declared, swinging both blades to where he knew the demon was.

"Breath of Thunder, First Style: Thunderclap and Flash." Zenitsu murmured, vanishing in a bolt of lightning intent to strike at the demon's neck.

Their two attacks dispersed the dust cloud at the last moment and revealed Rui's absence in it, forcing the two Demon Slayers to stop their blades just short of hitting each other's neck and resulting in a mutual decapitation. "...goddamnit, he's gone!" Inosuke cried out frustratingly, looking around furiously for the Lower Moon, "Hey, blondie, you see where he's gone?" He inquired, at which Zenitsu tilted his head slightly to the side, drooling a bit from the corner of his mouth. Not that Inosuke noticed.

Both would then suddenly perk up and simultaneously leap to opposite sides just before five strings coming from above cut through the ground. Inosuke grunted and looked up to see Rui standing thirty feet up in the air, staring down at them condescendingly while standing atop one of his extended strings, "You two are undoubtedly troublesome foes..." He noted, narrowing his eyes, "...and yet you're still just human. Your options are limited, and with every blow, your attacks become more and more predictable...it is honestly a matter of time until you make a mistake and forfeit your life."

"Oh, just shut the fuck up, you spider freak!" Inosuke growled, jumping after the Lower Moon with his blades ready to cut him down, only for Rui to leap over to another string just as he swung his blades. While still midair, the demon would point at the string he'd been standing a moment earlier with his index and middle fingers, joining the two in a scissor-like motion and causing the string to snap just as his foe was next to it, causing both ends of the string to lash out quicker than Inosuke could anticipate, either end cutting into his sides somewhat deeply.

"Careful now…those extended strings have a lot of tension built up on them." Rui mockingly warned his foes while watching the boar-headed swordsman bleeding as he fell towards the ground, silently cursing all the way down, "If you get too close to them carelessly, someone might end up getting hurt…."

Even as Inosuke hit the ground though, the demon would get little time to bask in his successful attack before Zenitsu suddenly rose behind him, drawing his blade aiming for decapitation. Rui would immediately leap off to another string to avoid the slash, snapping the thread before the blond mid-jump, but the swordsman deflected the snapped strings from hitting him with two quick swings. He tried to bring down five more threads on him, but Zenitsu moved with lightning speed to the side the moment he hit the ground, narrowly evading the strings to the point where the tip of his scabbard had been slashed right off.

This though did little to deter the blond as he chased after Rui from the ground even as the demon moved from string to string with quick jumps up above, sending more strings at Zenitsu's direction to try and cut him down with them, evidently knowing that even taking a moment to try and swing towards the defenseless Inosuke would be an open invitation for the lightning-quick Demon Slayer to attack his neck. And yet he remained undeterred, evading the strings indifferently while keeping his attention on the Lower Moon, waiting for the right moment until he presented itself to him, his blade raised to the side as lightning flashed around its edge, "Breath of Thunder…First Style: Thunderclap and Flash Twofold…" he announced, a red thread being swung down and very nearly decapitating him, only for him to disappearing a bolt of lightning the moment it was about to connect, leaving the string to dig a deep but bloodless trench on the ground.

The bolt would rise at an angle and bounce off the side of a tree to rise towards Rui, the Lower Moon not having expected such a roundabout attack and having little room to dodge midair as he nimbly jumped from string to string. Though he was able to avoid the bolt enough to negate its decapitating attack, he was unable to land on the next string due to losing his left foot to Zenitsu's blade and, along with it, his balance, causing Rui to fall from his strings towards the ground. Despite cursing his situation, the Lower Moon knew to take advantage from it and, noticing he had a clear view of the still downed Inosuke mid-fall without his comrade to protect him, he swung one of his strings at the boar-headed boy, intent on eliminating at least one of his opponents given the chance to do so.

Inosuke meanwhile had been writhing in pain for the last half a minute or so since hitting the ground, trying to keep track of the fight even as it went on without him. Of course, even more than his wounds, what was really hurting him at that moment was his sheer uselessness. Zenitsu was out there, dodging those strings and fighting by himself while he was in the ground crying over what was basically a scratch. "_This is unacceptable…_" He gritted his teeth, focusing on his own wounds, "_C'mon…close the wounds…stop the bleeding…you gotta get up and fight damnit!_" He thought, and through a mix of focus and willpower, indeed managed to manipulate the muscles around the wounds to close it and stop the bleeding just as Rui decided to try and attack him.

Rolling back just in time to avoid being bisected by the string, Inosuke would breathe in deeply, glad he'd managed to fix himself up to keep on pfightingeven if the pain of it was very much still there. But that was not, in fact, his main problem. That was the Lower Moon Four that, in spite of their best efforts, was still standing. Glaring at the demon wildly, he sped off in a blur across the clearing just as Zenitsu too landed and quickly moved to match his pace, rushing in together with the boar-headed swordsman towards their common foe.

Rui scowled as he rose with his nearly reformed foot at the two Demon Slayers persisting against him at every turn, "Come on now…just face the inevitable and die already!" He growled, using one hand to send more consecutive strings at them while the other snapped the extended ones near them, the sheer tension built up in those strings causing them to snap at the boys with great force. Still, they moved on undaunted, aware and careful to the extended strings while dodging the ones lashing at them. Zenitsu, at one point, took the lead to swing and deflect two of Rui's strings, sparks flying as his blade was dragged along their side. The demon then swung down five whole strings on them, and it was Inosuke's turn to charge in and take the lead, swinging both his blade at opposite direction to deflect two of the middle strings to the side just enough to leap in and squeeze between them, Zenitsu himself jumping just over him, spinning his body midair and landing to immediately throw his broken scabbard towards Rui. Though the demon easily deflected it with a brief motion of one of his strings, that momentary distraction was all the blond needed to breathe in, lightning encircling him before he closed the distance with a burst of speed.

Despite that, Rui was able to see this coming just in time to erect his three remaining strings against a nearby branch, forcing Zenitsu's blade to clash against them as its was swung for his neck. The boy grit his teeth, his sword bending against the threads but not quite breaking them, seeming for a second like it was going to snap. That is however before Inosuke showed up, his own two swords already being brought down to intersect with Zenitsu's own, giving it the extra push needed to finally cut through the crimson threads. Not only that, but even though Rui saw that and tried backing up, he still ended up having nearly half of his neck cut off by the slash, their combined efforts shown to clearly have enough power in it to not just cut through his defenses, but to actually threaten his very life, "What was that about your tough neck, you spider bastard?!" Inosuke inquired mockingly, clearly gleeful at how close they had been there to ending the Lower Moon and refusing to give in either as he resumed his dash towards him alongside Zenitsu.

Rui, though clearly startled at how close they had gotten to his decapitation, refused to give them the space to try again. The moment he landed, he produced a string from each of his fingertips once again. Except, rather than just using them to lash out at the two, he decided to be more creative this time and, with a motion of his thumbs, used a pair strings to cut right through two nearby trees before wrapping the remaining four strings in each hand around them. With two quick motions, he'd use the trees as projectiles and send them flying towards each of the Demon Slayers.

Inosuke raised his head and saw the trunk thrown at him hitting another tree and flipping sideways as it fell towards him. He was undaunted though, and jumped right towards it while breathing in, "Breath of the Beast, Second Fang: Rip and Tear!" He declared, slashing with both blades on diagonals like an X and ripping right through the tree trunk, its two separated halves crashing uselessly on the ground.

Zenitsu, on the other hand, being foremost a speedster to Inosuke's tank, was met with a tree thrown at him trunk first, and easily jumped up on its trunk and ran along its length over halfway up before being forced to flip to the side as one of the red strings tore clean through it, vertically splitting the tree clean in two. Having been able to clear the obstacle faster than his comrade, Zenitsu landed with lightning already shrouding him, and moved in the blink of an eye to once again try and decapitate Rui. However, instead of raising his defenses against the blow or trying to attack before he did, the demon this time around bent back at the last moment to dodge the blow aimed right at his head, visibly surprising the Demon Slayer, "Didn't think that same trick would be working one me forever, now did you?!" He declared, lashing out to kick Zenitsu and though the boy moved back a moment earlier to diminish the impact, he was still sent skidding back, "Don't be expecting another free shot at my neck either!" Rui told him, slashing at the blond with another set string too quickly for even him to dodge, forcing the boy to block with his blade which, though it held for a moment, was disarmed off his hands with a sudden upwards tug of the thread, causing it to fly over his head.

Rui then took this chance to bring down another string that would slash him in half, only for a partially broken katana to be thrown over Zenitsu's shoulder from behind him, catching the string and holding for a moment before having its blade sliced right through. This was enough to allow the blond to roll to the side and dodge the string before it was brought down on him. From the dust the string raised by cutting into the earth, Inosuke would emerge with a mighty battle cry, dual-wielding his unbroken serrated katana alongside Zenitsu's own blade. He rushed at the Lower Moon with murderous intent, deflecting his incoming strings just as his comrade had done while losing little speed doing so.

Seeing his opponent approach, Rui would swing five more strings at him with one hand, while the other extended upwards, attaching more strings to a tree branch up above in order to pull himself up and away from Inosuke as the boy dodged the strings and brought his blades upon him. Even with his opponent fleeing though, the boar-headed swordsman was undeterred, shooting off skyward after him, soon enough finding himself landing and beginning to run vertically up the side of a tree, occasionally stabbing one of the blades onto the trunk and push himself upwards while the other deflected the strings sent by the demon up above.

As he approached the top of the tree however, Rui decided to cut his chase short and slashed, with one of his strings, the entire upper half of the tree by cutting through its trunk, causing it to fall down towards Inosuke. In response, the swordsman jumped and landed on the side of the falling trunk in order to use it as a platform and leap off after the Lower Moon. Rui widened his eyes, producing five strings in his fingertips preparing to dice up the incoming Demon Slayer, but all the momentum Inosuke had built up simply made him faster, "Breath of the Beast, First Fang…" He announced stabbing both his and Zenitsu's blades into Rui's neck just as the strings formed in his fingers. Though they didn't sunk in too deep, it was nonetheless deep enough, "Pierce and Extract!"

True to the attack's name, after piercing, Inosuke extracted. That is to say, he ripped both blades off Rui while simultaneously decapitating the Lower Moon. Rising above him triumphantly, Inosuke smirked under his boar head, basking in both their victory and the surprised, hateful look seemingly stuck in Rui's decapitated head. "Guess that rank in your eye was just for show, after all, huh…? Next life you'll think twice before crossing Lord Ino-"

He felt it coming for him before he saw it, but even then what really gave it away was the look on Rui switching from surprise and hate to a triumphant smirk. Had he not twisted his body midair with his unnatural flexibility, he'd be sliced clean in half by the single descending string cast by the demon's headless body. That is not to say it didn't hit, as the red thread still grazed him, which was just about enough to slice a large patch of flesh and muscle off his left thigh, creating a huge bleeding wound on his leg, one he wouldn't be able to remediate too quickly this time…

"You didn't think that clumsy swing of yours could've really cut my head off, did you…?" The grinning head asked him as Inosuke's teeth sunk down on his lower lip to dull the pain, biting with enough force for a trick of blood to fall down his chin underneath the boar head, "Admittedly, cutting my own head off with a string was a drastic measure…but if it's what it takes to finally shut that loud mouth of yours, it's a small price to pay." Rui admitted with the biggest of grins stamped on his face while his body produced five more strings and swung, "I'll save you the pain of falling to death and end this right here for both our sakes…so goodbye, Demon Slayer."

The five strings were brought down to slice through him and Inosuke only raised his blade to try and defend himself from them, useless as it was. Just as they were about to hit him though, he'd feel something grab him by the fur belt in his waist, a bolt of lightning cutting through the sky to grab and drag him away from the strings, Zenitsu having risen past the treetops to save him. He used a tree branch as a platform to diminish their fall before the two eventually landed back in the clearing, luckily missing any of the still extended red strings around it and being left to sprawl across the ground in their landing.

Inosuke grunted then as he tried sitting up with difficulty, and quickly tried to cover his wound, but had his attention caught as Zenitsu rose again, katana back in his hands as he'd claimed it back from Inosuke during the confusion in the last few seconds. He really had no words in him to say about what had just happened. He'd rushed off by himself, reckless as usual, and had forced the boy to save him. It brought to him a surge of uselessness, a feeling he was not completely unfamiliar with, having felt it before during previous losses, but this time it really felt different. Previously he'd just get up and beat up something else to make himself feel better, but this time he felt doubtful on whether they might even come out of it alive at all…

Amidst those thoughts, he would watch as Rui's body emerged from the forest again, carrying with his strings his own decapitated head, who looked very displeased at being unable to finish off an opponent. "I truly thought I'd been able to leave you behind there…" The demon admitted, taking his head from the strings and reconnecting it to his neck, letting his natural healing factor do its job, "I was hoping to deal with the boar first as to get to you, but it seems you won't be affording me the luxury…"

Zenitsu stood silently for a moment, before slowly raising his blade and pointing it at Rui, "He is my comrade…" He quietly said, finally breaking the near-total silence he'd held since Inosuke had arrived, "If you wanna get to him…you have to get through me first."

Rui seemed amused by that remark, "Alright then…I dealt with both of you before, so fighting by yourself, you won't last long." He said, summoning more of his strings to his fingertips, "I will keep to that. Not a finger shall be laid on your friend until you yourself are down in the ground and bleeding…so go ahead, show me what you've got."

Inosuke was silent, knowing he could barely stand up in his condition and very frustrated with that fact. There he was, down in the ground while the one he'd previously regarded as a coward stood protecting him. All he wanted was to get another chance to fight together with him and finally decapitate the bastard instead of rushing out recklessly like he had. But alas, the deed was done, so all he could do was focus on dealing with his currently bleeding wound in any way he could and leave it all to his fellow Sense, "_Give him hell…Zenitsu!_"

The two remaining combatants stood silent for a moment, staring down one another intently. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, that peace was broken and all of Rui's ten strings were brought down vertically form both sides upon Zenitsu, only for the boy to move in the blink of an eye between them, reappearing right in front of the demon with his blade already swinging. The Lower Moon would quickly create another thread to deflect the blade while simultaneously dodging it, already forming five more in his free hand to slash at him horizontally. The Demon Slayer, however, was close enough to plant a hand on Rui's swinging hand, giving him leverage to jump over the strings while pushing them down, finishing his flip by slashing off Rui's arm once again.

Grunting, Rui called upon more strings in his remaining hand and erected them to act as an improvised wall in between himself and Zenitsu in order to intercept the Slayer while he rushed in again to attack his neck. The blond took note of that though, and adapted quickly, changing what was to be a swing to instead thrust his blade in the space between the strings, catching Rui with a slash on the side of his face to blind his left eye. He angrily tried snapping his wall of strings at Zenitsu then, but the boy was quick, and moved past them, taking advantage of his opponent's blind side to narrowly land a blow to his neck, instead only producing a gash over his throat as the Lower Moon backed up.

It was evident from Rui's face how annoyed he was by the cat and mouse game he was being forced to play with the Demon Slayer, which was especially hard given how crazy fast Zenitsu was. That was not to say he did not have other tricks up his sleeve, made evident when he backed up right into one of his strings just as the boy closed the distance between them. Rather than being sliced in half by its cutting power, Rui was unaffected by his string's cutting properties, instead causing it to bend back with his weight before he flipped over it to the other side, grabbing onto it with his newly regenerated hand before letting go and releasing all that tension at his rushing foe by snapping the thread.

Zenitsu would slide underneath the thread just in time to evade it, the tip of the string creating a shallow cut along the side of his head, but even then he would have very little time to act once getting past the thread as Rui was already swinging five more strings created in his hand aiming to dice his head in five parts. Raising his blade, the blond managed to stab it through Rui's palm and push it upwards to cause the attack miss as he slid by. Coming to a stop though, Zenitsu would be met with the demon throwing an elbow blow at him in spite of his mutilated hand, forcing him to raise his hilt to block the blow but being knocked a few ways back regardless, giving Rui the needed time to regenerate from his damage.

Regardless, Zenitsu was not giving up his attack just yet, sinking his feet onto the ground to stop himself, lightning flickering around his body in before he shot off back at his opponent, once again using Thunderclap and Flash. Rui, however, was prepared for that and created ten more strings, clasping his hands together and interlacing his fingers in an attempt to close in all the strings around the Demon Slayer and dice him to pieces. Zenitsu was only able to evade the corridor of enclosing threads by jumping at the last moment, abandoning his target entirely to instead fly over his head, leaping up high and crashing right through the large abandoned mansion's balcony.

This turn of events caused Rui to open up another grin as he raised both his hands towards the mansion, "Inside the house you can't move around much…besides, it's not like I'd be able to stay here any longer after all of this. Might as well dispose of you both at once…" As he spoke, a mass of interlacing blood-red strings would gather inside of his palm, twisting and tying together while giving off a dark aura, "Demon Blood Art: Cutting Thread Spiderweb."

Inosuke watched in shock as a wall containing hundreds of strings left Rui's hands and grew to a massive size before striking the mansion and slicing the entire building apart into thousands of pieces. For a solid moment, the boar-headed-boy thought Zenitsu had been caught in that attack, until he saw a ball of lightning shining high above where the mansion had been, growing in intensity as it fell quickly, leading Inosuke to realize his comrade had escaped the attack by moving skyward in order to evade its range.

Zenitsu continued building up his power in preparation for a big attack of his own, diving down headfirst and flipping at the last moment to get a proper footing in a falling piece of debris and enter his signature stance, "Breath of Thunder, First Style: Thunderclap and Flash…Sevenfold!" He announced, before shooting out, a bolt of lightning suddenly bouncing in between the falling pieces of debris, building up speed before shooting out for the seventh and final time towards a surprised Rui, who swung a hand upwards to raise five extended threads, intercrossing in order to take on the attack.

Thunder rang out as his yellow blade struck the bloodied strings, pushing them back greatly as lightning crackled around him, pushing further and further, slashing through two of the five strings and pushing on harder, Zenitsu opening his eyes slightly to reveal two white glowing orbs and actually starling Rui for a moment, giving him the right chance to cut through the strings and get a clean blow at his neck.

Which was incidentally the moment where his katana finally fell under the strain it had been put to, and snapped clean at the point where it made connection with the threads, leaving Zenitsu with the stump of a blade barely five inches long. Understanding his position, he attempted to quickly move back and away from the threads, but Rui caught onto that too, and capitalized on the situation by having all three remaining strings snapped at once just as the Demon Slayer moved, all lashing out at unpredictable patterns. The boy was quick though, and he managed to back away from it almost untouched…almost.

Inosuke widened his eyes at what he saw, and Zenitsu himself would suddenly come to a sudden stop. His eyes drowsily opened, not fully aware of the situation he was in, but as he raised his hand to look at it, any trace of his previous state would be washed away from him as his eyes then widened. Zenitsu's palm was covered in blood, gushing from the three missing fingers in his left hand, leaving him only with his index and thumb.

The boy collapsed to the ground on his knees, staring numbly at his mutilated hand while Rui approached him, the several strings that had remained erected around the clearing fading away into nothing at his command, "You humans…for all you fight and strive to reach us, a single scratch is enough to debilitate you…it's honestly pathetic." He said pitifully, with Zenitsu turning to look at him only to be met with a kick to the face, sent flying across the clearing again. "I'm glad though. I didn't think I'd be able to detain both of you without resorting to more...fatal methods. But as promised, I'll be disposing of you before focusing on your comrade. Don't worry about it though," He then told him, calmly striding after the boy while calling five normal strings to his hand, no longer seeing any use in pouring his blood in them. "by the time we're done you won't be worry about your death…you'll be wishing for it."

Rui continued his stride to the edge of the clearing, but as he was about to reach his downed target, would stop and turn around in response to the uneven footsteps approaching him. He'd come face to face with Inosuke, already leaping at him with his remaining sword raised to strike, having chased the demon in spite of the ridiculous pain of his injury that persisted even after tying his fur belt around his leg to staunch his bleeding, moving in to try and defend his comrade, "Breath of the Beas-" He tried saying, but was interrupted before he could even begin with a quick motion of Rui's hand, using his strings to wrap around both Inosuke's arms and neck, leaving him immobilized, hanging three feet off the ground as the sharp strings dug into his skin painfully.

"You sure are a stubborn one, aren't you…?" Rui asked him mockingly, leaving the boar headed boy to grunt and struggle against the strings, "I wouldn't do that if I were you…after all, you're not that stupid, you know I could easily cut you to shreds with a single motion of my finger, but what I said to your friend goes double for you. Death won't come to you so easily, little boar."

"Fuck you!" Inosuke exclaimed between gritted teeth, trying to kick at Rui with his free legs, but finding the demon just out of his reach. That in turn just caused the strings to tighten around his throat, a thin red collar of his own blood appearing around his neck as he was choked.

"Such anger…I'd like to see it in your own eyes myself for once." He admitted, before creating another string and suddenly slashing upwards with measured precision, slicing through Inosuke's entire boar head, splitting it in two without doing the same to his actual head, instead only leaving a bleeding wound across his face, rising from his chin, past his lips, over his nose and stretching into his forehead. As the two halves of the boar head separated and fell uselessly to the ground, it would reveal the bleeding but very much angered expression in his face.

"Bastard…! I'm gonna kill you for that!" Inosuke declared in rage, staring irately with his green eyes beneath his bloodied dark hair. Not only had this fucker hurt his comrade but had also taken away from him his most precious possession: the head of the boar mother who had raised him out in the wild, his only memento of his mother figure.

Rui, however, seemed unaffected by his threats. In fact, he would open an amused smirk at the look on Inosuke's face. "Huh…I didn't expect such a wild beast like yourself to have such a delicate face…" He noted, riling up the boy even further, "Anyhow, I suppose after attacking me so rudely, I don't feel very beholden to my earlier promise…even if your friend is down in the ground and bleeding." He admitted, glancing briefly at the downed Zenitsu before raising his index to call upon a single string as his lips shifted into a smirk, "So, pray tell me then, what will it be first, an arm or a leg…?"

The entrapped boy's silent response was to spit right in the Lower Moon's face, whipping the smirk off his face while glaring at the demon defiantly, "Alright then, leg it is…" Rui decided, drawing his hand back to make true to his word, when he suddenly stopped at the loud clap of thunder behind him. He turned around quickly, but would only be able to see the stump of a blade inches from his eye before it slashed right through his face, catching both of his eyes with its edge and furthermore cutting through the strings holding Inosuke up as Zenitsu stumbled behind him groggily, the last of his strength used in that final Thunderclap and Flash after he'd fainted once again in shock.

Inosuke stumbled as he hit the ground again, struggling to maintain his balance with the multiple bleeding wounds inflicted by the strings while watching in surprise as Rui yelled angrily, momentarily blinded by Zenitsu's attack, the boy having chosen to aim for his eyes since to debilitate the demon for a moment, knowing his blade wasn't even long enough to try and chop off his entire head. Realizing that, Inosuke didn't waste the chance his comrade had given him, and rushed off to grab the collapsing Zenitsu, shouldering the boy and immediately beginning to run down the mountain, overcoming his wounds on pure adrenaline to begin dashing his way back down the mountain as Rui behind them screamed angrily, blindly slashing with his strings at every direction and tearing apart the landscape indiscriminately.

* * *

While his comrades were busy with their own fights, Tanjiro Kamado made his way further and further up Natagumo, following the elusive smell of the swordswoman demon after she'd opened quite a distance on him. At first, it had been a daunting task, following her scent with the nauseating stench that seemed ever-present near the base of the mountain, so much so he realized he'd lost track of Inosuke still early on his chase at some point, yet chose not to turn back and keep chasing after the Lower Moon demon. Eventually, the stench would clear out, but he still ran for quite a while until the smell began getting stronger yet again, Tanjiro noting that not only was he getting close to the demon he'd been chasing, but also to the very peak of the mountain.

Sure enough, the smell would begin getting more and more prominent, until he realized that this meant the demon was no longer running away from him, and his frantic run would slow down to a determined stride. Crossing the treeline, Tanjiro would emerge into a large open clearing with a slight rise, a few trees scattered about here and there plus a large boulder, nearly the size of a house, located at the mountain's very peak.

Standing atop the boulder, there she was, staring up into the sky donning the same mask over her face with her long hair and haori flowing with the wind. The demon looked down, noticing his presence as Tanjiro entered the clearing, raising her hand towards him before closing it into a fist, purple flames sparking to life behind him and soon spreading into a ring of fire around the peak of the mountain, trapping the two of them in there.

"So...there you are." Tanjiro murmured, narrowed eyes locked with the demon's own in spite of their distance, the tension in the air palpable. Though neither of them knew it yet, their confrontation had been inevitable since the very beginning and now it was closer than ever, with both about to take a step neither could ever fully come back from.

**A/N: So, what better than following up with a way too small chapter with a way too long one. I suppose its the least I can do with this weird-ass schedule I've been pushed to by staying home like 95% of the time.**

**Anyway, I like to talk a lot about this being a tragedy just as Demon Slayer inherently is a lot, but I haven't been putting it to practice. This starts to change now, and what better way to do it than to maim one of the main characters. This chapter marks the real start of both Zenitsu's and Inosuke's developments in this story. One lost a thing that previously defined him, AKA: boar head, plus was dealt a pretty bad loss and the other…well, most of his left hand, which kinda speaks for itself. After all, you didn't think Branching Paths just referred to Nezuko and Tanjiro, did you?**

**It was still a very cool fight to write though, with one or two fakeouts that I genuinely hope made someone believe Zenitsu/Inosuke killed Rui at those points in that fight. Still, Rui is a strong opponent, seeing as he is Lower Moon Four, and though it was very close, he ultimately took the win here, even if Zenitsu and Insure manage to get away by the end of the chapter…or do they? We'll see when we get back to them.**

**Also, I can't forget to mention the other fight in this chapter. Kanao and Genya fighting off the Spider Father Demon. I kinda wish I'd moved that first POV to the end of last chapter, so I might edit it at one point in the future, but for now it will stay as it is. Someone might've also noticed that, but I really like using the nearby environment in the fights I write, and there are specific things I call 'battle props' that I like to reuse depending on the scenario. In city-like places, the most common one is rooftops. Having people crash on them, slide on their side, jump off and to them…here though, in the forest, my preference is to use trees. Have characters crash onto them, rip them apart or throw them at each other is just cool.**

**Lastly, there is the final part of this chapter, which sets up what next chapter will fully focus on about, the long-awaited meeting between siblings. It's probably the most important chapter in this story so far aside from the very first one, so I am anxious to write it. Oh, I almost forgot, but SPOILERS for the manga…good news and bad news. Tanjiro is alive (called it) but Tanjiro is also a demon…which wow, bold move Croc-sensei. Kanao is also seemingly blind, sacrificing her remaining eye to try and turn Tanjiro back into a human, which let's hope works because he really deserves a happy ending here.**

**Instead of the usual thanks for Downwarddive, I'll instead give him a sorry for making him think I was dead by not replying on Discord.**

**So, the reviews.**

_LegoMyEggo02: I know it's not my place to criticize someone's writing style, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could ditch the future tense style of writing. It's not that it's bad, you just seem to switch between past and future tense so much that it's very distracting and hard to focus at times. Other than that, great chapter as usual and I love the way you write these fight scenes._

**That would be my non-native English shining through. I try and monitor my grammar the best I can, but its not easy going through thousands of words looking for mistakes, and there are things I probably won't even see as errors in my part. I could use a Beta Reader, but I think relying on someone else's schedule would just further affect my schedule unless we managed to reach some sort of agreement.**

_thestormwriter123: Really enjoyed the entire story, hope you'll keep up the good work. Also, really love the fact that you've diverged from canon so much. It makes the story far more enjoyable. All the best ._

**Thanks, I really try to keep myself from repeating canon too much, especially at this point of the story, even if its something as simple as changing it so Inosuke is the one fighting the Spider Brother instead of Zenitsu here. It just makes it a better read, I think.**

HamburgerLife: You still leave me in awe on how you make the story work so well

**I'm really glad you like it…given you'd reviewed the first chapter just an hour before you posted that though, you must be a really freaking quick reader.**

_mr pink hair:_

_I'M BACK! (do people still remember me?)_

_It has been a really long time since my last review, but I have continued to read every chapter with the exact same enthusiasm as the first one, and it has only been getting better with each new release. Now, let's go to the actual review._

_This chapter shows that while Zenitsu seems a bit more brave by showing him going up the mountain, his increased(?) bad luck evens it out by putting him against Rui. But hey! Lord Inosuke is here to save him from danger! Or will it be the other way around? I'm looking foward to what's going to happen here._

_The jojo spider got an upgrade but Kanao and Genya are no joke either. Talking about Genya, since he gets stronger when he eats demons, woundn't his lungs also get stronger for a short time allowing him to use some sort of breathing technique? Or is he untalented in swordsmanship like Senjuro? Just a small thought that might or might not be a good addition to the story._

_To finish this long review. It seems like things are heading to everyone but Tanjiro fighting Rui while our sun breather confronts his brainwashed sister. I'm so excited!_

_Bye bye and have a nice day!_

**Hey, I remember you. Hard to forget one of the first reviewers of this story.**

**Jojo Spider is such a great descriptor for the spider father I just had to sneak in a Jojo Reference into this chapter, just like all those hip kids do with their memes. As for Genya, I really can't tell you how it works, maybe his lungs are too small or something, its really part of the original story rather than my addition to it, so I can't say. It probably hasn't got much to do with his swordsmanship though, I imagine.**

**As for Zenitsu and Inosuke, you kinda missed the mark thinking the other Slayers would join them. You did get something right though, it really was the other way around, which is why this fight ends like it does, though I guess the fact that no one died should be counted as their luck even if I'd never let that happen…this early anyway.**

**Another thing you got right is Tanjiro confronting his sister, which is where we end the chapter, leading to their inevitable clash next chapter. That said, I hope to hear your thoughts again about all this.**

_The Joining: What was the new info that contradicts what you wrote for Kanao?_

**Broadly, I said Kanao was raised as a Demon Slayer and trained for it by her sister', which is harsh but kinda explains why she is so strong. Canon info says she tried to be a maid in the Butterfly Mansion first and just happened to pick up a blade and head off to the Final Selection by herself with no say from Shinobu about it.**

_Guest: Thank you for the Shinazugawa Genya content!_

**You're welcome.**

_Echonic : F*ck yes! more incredible fight scenes._

**Yep, and we're not done with those just yet.**

**The day I'll be posting this (April 15th) marks the five month anniversary of beginning this story, and it's been a wild ride so far, one I hope to keep providing to you guys who so dearly support me. So, in celebration of that, why not leave an extra-lengthy review? Or a normal sized one too, if you will. Anyhow, in the interest of not making an oversized chapter any longer, as usual, Sky signing out.**


	21. Fateful Reunion

Tanjiro Kamado stood his ground, staring down the masked demon standing atop a massive boulder at the very peak of Natagumo. Behind him lay a tall wall of purple flames surrounding the entire clearing they were in, blocking out the possibility of escape, not that he had any intention of running away. From their short clash, he'd come to realize there was something different about this demon, though even now he was struggling to place his finger on exactly what, as if the answer was scratching at the back of his head yet at the same time just out of his reach.

It didn't matter though, one way or another she had killed six Demon Slayers in cold blood so there was no reason for him to hesitate against her. In fact, her having taken out all of them in one go was enough to beware of her presence already. "…Chihime." He said and though he'd already had her attention before then, something definitely shifted in her smell when he said that name, "That's your name, isn't it? It's the last thing that demon said after I'd slain her…" Once again, her smell shifted, and this time he was able to make out the anger she was feeling, further confirming his suspicions, "That's why you killed those Demon Slayers so indiscriminately after previously sparing their lives, no? As revenge for your friend…" She gave him no answer, nor did the scent of anger in her fade any slightly, but something told Tanjiro he was not too far off in his guess. "Regardless of your reasons though, the slaughter of humans is unforgivable, and besides…" His hand drifted down, taking a hold of his sword by the hilt, "…if there's anyone you should try and get revenge on, it should be the one who killed her in the first place, no…?"

For once, the demon known as Chihime seemed to agree with him as her smell shifted yet again. She jumped down from the rock, landing softly on the ground below some fifty feet away from him. Her hand grasped the hilt of her sword while the other held onto its scabbard, and just like that, she disappeared. Tanjiro's eyes widened as his Forescent flared at him, an image of his head being cut clean in half clear in his mind for a fraction of a second before he moved back, Chihime reappearing before him with her blade being drawn already slashing at her head. Even while knowing she was coming, her attack had come so close to hitting him it had actually cut a strand of hair off his hair. She followed the attack by swinging the katana over her head and slashing at Tanjiro again, but this time the boy drew his blade to intercept hers while it was still leaving his scabbard, using the draw to swing against his foe and push her back, which she used to flip back with the momentum.

Tanjiro closed the distance and tried to attack her before she could regain her bearings but the moment her foot touched the ground Chihime quickly ducked to avoid an overhead slash, already aiming to slice both his legs off with a low swing, only for the crimson-clad swordsman to reverse the grip on his katana's hilt while shifting his footing, stabbing it down on the ground in order to have it intercept her blade just in time. She tried to raise her katana again to attack but was surprised to find out Tanjiro had stepped down on it to keep the blade down before he ripped his own sword from the ground with an upwards swing she was barely able to move away while tugging the sword from under is foot from, the blade actually cutting a piece of cloth off her sleeve in the process.

Having his foothold misplaced for a moment, Tanjiro briefly lost his balance and that was enough for Chihime to take advantage of, closing in again on the boy with her blade already swinging at him. He still managed to raise his own sword to block it, but the blow still had enough power in it to send him stumbling downhill. She pressed him further, attacking with quick but powerful strikes and forcing Tanjiro to keep on the defensive while being forced further back down, which he soon realized meant she was pushing him towards the ring of fire enveloping the clearing.

He tried to fight back and regain the offensive in the battle but she pushed away his attacks and pressed him further down with her restless swings every time. The swordsman even tried locking blades and pushing her back, but quickly found Chihime's smaller frame hid a deceptive amount of strength on it as she kept her blade still under pressure, slowly pushing him closer and closer to his impending doom, his sinking feet on the ground doing little to stop her determined stride. With the ring of fire now less than ten feet away from him, he tried a desperate move and broke their blade lock before slashing at her, only for the demon to easily block his sword and locking their weapons together once again, continuing to force him even nearer to the ring, its flames licking at his back hungrily almost as if aware of his approaching presence. Only at that point though he would see the insignia at the bottom of her blade, recognizing the kanji as the same utilized in the Pillars' katana like he'd seen with Giyu. A curious but otherwise useless detail given his current situation.

Then, for a brief moment while he was looking at her blade, he saw Chihime letting go of her sword with one hand and opening it, leading to him remembering the motion she'd done twice before to ignite those very same flames, and right as she clenched her hand into a fist, he'd quickly grab onto her sword arm, using their blade lock push her down and flip over her back and get behind the demon in the same maneuver he'd once used to beat Kanao on the first time he sparred against her. He wasn't a moment too late as the closest section to the ring spat out a purple fireball at them, with Tanjiro taking cover behind his foe to let her take the full brunt of her own attack, himself being left only singed by the flames.

Expecting to get a chance to attack Chihime while she was still recovering from the flames, he let go of her arm and broke their lock to swing his blade at her back, only for her to intercept him beforehand with an elbow to his temple, sending the boy sprawling uphill from the blow. Despite that, Tanjiro rose fairly quickly, some blood falling down the right side on his sturdy head, leaving him dazed but otherwise unharmed. Rather than moving back at him as she had previously done, the demon instead only began walking up his way with her blade lowered, seeming completely unharmed by taking a fireball of her own making head-on, not even her clothes showing any damage.

"_She's fast, strong, incredibly skilled and with a dangerous blood art to boot…"_ Tanjiro thought, breathing in with his katana already raised in preparation for her next move, "_There's no doubt about it…a demon that can fight just like a Demon Slayer, breathing techniques and all…she's the real deal._" Realizing the danger presented by his opponent though was all he could get before, with her foot hitting the ground, she would suddenly rush towards him, forcing the boy to move his blade to the side in order to deflect a stab at his chest, switching around to step past her and swing his body around to aim a decapitating slash which she in turn deflected upwards.

The swordsman moved in at his foe again with his katana swinging, but so did Chihime, both katana clashing and once again causing them to engage in a close-range exchange. Their steel struck against one another back and forth several times a second, producing a rain of sparks around them. For a bystander, it might have been impossible to even tell which one was attacking and which one was defending from how fast they switched between them, but amidst this controlled chaos, Tanjiro was giving his all at every turn to keep pace with his opponent. Her defense was near flawless, intercepting his every swing and slash, while her attack was relentless, taking control of the fight and not letting him retain it at any cost.

Blood was finally drawn when he was unable to fully hold back the demon's swinging blade and had it push back his block and graze his shoulder with its edge. He grit his teeth, breathing in between them to push her back and strike thrice at Chihime in quick succession, only for her violet blade to intercept each and every one of them. He followed up with a one-handed thrust of his sword which she easily sidestepped and attempted to counter to regain control of his fight. Tanjiro though thought ahead, letting go of his blade when it was fully extended and grabbing it with the hand in his already swinging left arm, his improvised attack moving to hit his opponent before her own sword could make contact, forcing the demon to abandon it and suddenly leap over his blade, flipping midair and forcing him to back up when she swung her blade upwards mid-flip, its edge sailing by inches past his nose. Hadn't his Forescent warned him of the attack, Tanjiro was fairly certain she'd have successfully slashed his face right off just then.

Even then Chihime still landed smoothly, bringing her sword in a horizontal swing with all the momentum created her spin against Tanjiro's own raised blade, the immense force behind the attack barely held back by his guard, and still having enough force to knock him off his feet and send the boy flying back, his back hitting near the top of the large boulder marking the peak of the mountain. The swordsman groaned at his painful situation before widening his eyes and suddenly rolling back up on top of the rock while the demon came flying down upon where he'd just been a moment ago, holding a reverse grip on her sword with two hands as she stabbed it into the boulder at the exact place he had been a moment ago, creating a large crack originating from where the tip of her sword made impact.

He attempted to close in distance in that brief moment her weapon was stuck onto the rock and tried slashed at her. His foe though reacted quickly, stepping back and letting herself fall down the side of her rock and out of his swing's range while still grabbing onto her hilt, before using it as a lever to jump and flip over Tanjiro, tearing her blade free of the boulder in the process to land behind the boy and swing at his back. He was not caught twice in the same trick though, and this time managed to deflect Chihime's powerful slash upwards rather than trying to block it head-on.

With the battlefield area suddenly being limited to the top of the rock they were both in, Tanjiro and Chihme reengaged in a close dance of blades, each of their swings carrying with them enough power to leave deep gashes along the rocky ground as they fought atop it. He initially attempted to gain ground on her, but quickly found this to be as useless a tactic as it had proved to be the last time as, even trying at his best to get past her guard, the best he could do in the situation was match her, and fighting on an equal ground was never a good idea for a Demon Slayer given how much easier it was for a human to make a fatal mistake as compared to a demon. That said, he attempted to switch up his tactics and stopped attacking entirely, instead focusing on keeping up his defense against her powerful offensive. With the surface area at the boulder's top being no bigger than that of a small room, the swordsman was attempting to give her the illusion of control while guiding the battle through careful footwork, making it seem so he was being forced to the edge of the rock.

As they reached said edge, Tanjiro would raise his blade when Chihime repeatedly began bringing down her own sword in repeated strikes against his edge, hitting with great force every time and progressively inching her opponent further back, "_Not yet…_" The boy thought to himself while holding back the Lower Moon's increasingly stronger blows, "_Wait for the right moment…wait…_" Then, she'd raise her katana again, gripping its hilt with both hands before bringing it down full force upon the Demon Slayer, "_Now!_" He exclaimed before swinging his own sword to deflect her slash while using that motion to swiftly move past the Lower Moon as she overswung. Chihime recovered quickly however and spun around with her sword swinging at Tanjiro, but he easily raised his own blade to block the blow, having prepared for such an attack, and following up with his own, a low kick at her knee that sends the demon off-balance just enough for him to use their blade lock to his advantage and push her off the edge of the rock and down a forty feet drop towards the ground.

Chihime began falling, but would barely get halfway down before stabbing her blade onto the side of the rock to stop her falling momentum and using it to push herself back upwards, running up the side of the rock back towards the Demon Slayer. He, however, would meet her halfway when jumping off the edge of the boulder himself, diving down towards her while pulling back his blade and breathing deeply. The demon though did not care one bit, and slashed straight for his neck, swinging with precision to decapitate her foe while he was still mid-fall. She could not have expected however for his blade to suddenly ignite with bright flames, intercepting her swing against its rain-guard with a sudden thrust, "Breath of the Sun, Seventh Dance: Piercing Sunlight!" Tanjiro declared while stabbing his flaming sword at her, a blow she narrowly avoided by moving her head quickly to the side, but still left a large scratch across the wooden mask covering her face. Since her tightly held blade was still pushed up against his guard though, she ended up being flung down to the ground hard, crashing down to raise a sizable dust cloud.

Not a moment later, however, did Chihime jump right back out of said dust cloud, skidding back down a good distance, dirtied but otherwise unharmed. She stared up at the cloud when it concealed the falling Demon Slayer for a moment before he burst right through it, spinning through the air towards her with his sword still engulfed in his breath's flames. "Breath of the Sun, Fifth Dance: Flame Chariot!" Tanjiro announced, bringing down his sword with all the force of its spinning momentum onto Chihime as he landed who, in turn, stood her ground and raised her blade to block the incoming attack with one of her hands held near the tip to better distribute the power of the attack.

The incoming blow though evidently still carried more in it than she initially expected as it struck her guard with enough power to break apart the earth beneath her feet, her arms pushed back and her feet sunken into the cracked ground but nonetheless taking the brunt of the attack as the flames began dimming in Tanjiro' blade. Noticing her strain however, the swordsman would suddenly break away from the blow just as the flames in his blade faded and suddenly swing at her side. Chihime, though surprised by this move, still raised her sword in its one-handed grip to block it. This time, however, she was unable to see through his feint as he changed the direction of his swing at the last moment and left her unable to defend herself.

With no ease in the slightest, Tanjiro had claimed first managed to get his long-awaited chance for a meaningful move in what had quickly become evident to be his hardest fight against a demon so far. Kamanue had been a pure battle of attrition, but this was far more intense, the fact that throughout this whole ordeal he still couldn't shake off the odd feeling he had from this demon making it all the harder. But finally, he'd managed to focus, and with it claim both the right hand and the katana of his opponent with a clean cut at the wrist, both literally and figuratively disarming her.

He did not give her long to process that fact either as he slashed at his foe's neck, forcing her to quickly back away from him before she could reclaim her sword with her remaining sword. Tanjiro though was quick in chasing her, intent on finishing it before she could get a chance to reclaim the weapon. As he approached Chihime, she'd swing with the stump of her hand and send some blood flying at his face, probably in an attempt to blind him with it in order to get past the swordsman. He just raised his blade in order to intercept most of the blood so it didn't hit his eyes, though some trickles of it still got past his blade and hit him on the side of his forehead around the area of his scar. Not that he cared though, as he was too concerned with closing in on the demon, his blade raised as he breathed in preparation for what would be the killing blow, "Breath of the Sun, Ninth Dan-"

He was interrupted when Chihime closed her remaining hand into a fist, and there was a blinding flash of purple as her flames ignited on his forehead, causing a sudden interruption in his technique as the fire burned intensely in his skin for a moment before it just faded, not even damaging his hair, but leaving behind a very painful burn around the area of his scar, unknowingly to him reshaping said scar into a darker mark of brownish-red coloration bearing a vague resemblance to a flame. It hurt, quite badly in fact, but it was not something beyond what Tanjiro could manage. Still, it gave Chihime an easy opportunity to attack, which seemed like she was going to do when she rushed towards him but once he tried slashing at the demon to keep her at bay, she'd simply jump over him, spinning in the air and landing next to where her blade had been left, placing a foot underneath it to kick the sword upwards and easily catch it with her newly regenerated right hand.

Tanjiro, though still covering his forehead in pain, was very much so stunned by all this. Only now he was realizing the fact that she had used her blood to create those purple flames of her Demon Blood Art. It explained the weird smell present on those flames as well as on herself. But beyond that there was still something to that demon's scent that he couldn't quite shake off. It felt like he was forgetting something so obvious, but he didn't know what. Not to mention, what really surprised him, despite showing herself very capable of killing several humans, there was a weird pattern to her actions that could actually be seen as a code of honor. After all, she had very clearly had the opportunity to kill him with her blood art there and she didn't take it. He'd been close to the ring of fire surrounding them, he'd felt its heat, there was no way in hell that tiny flicker of a flame was all she could do. Something told him that, if she really wanted it, she'd have set his whole head on fire and killed him there and then. But she didn't. Just like she hadn't struck him when he was still dazed by her attack, instead opting to evade him and retrieve her sword. For some reason, it seemed like she was very intent on having a fair fight against him. "_…what the hell is up with this demon…?_" He couldn't help but to wonder.

Chihime meanwhile didn't seem to be in any rush to attack him, apparently waiting until he recovered from the burn. Except waiting wouldn't really be the right word, seeing as even though she didn't attack him herself, she sure gave him motivation to get back up. She walked over to a nearby tree and placed her regenerated hand against its bark, igniting the blood in her sleeve and passing on those flames to the tree in order to completely set it on fire. She then swung her sword at it one-handedly, and carved a deep gouge onto the wood, causing the tree to begin tipping over downhill and towards him. To rush that process, she would them kick onto the stump of the tree mid-fall to send it hurling downhill, purple flames burning fiercely in the trunk as it made its way towards Tanjiro.

"_...right, time to get back to it, I guess._" The boy grunted, rising up groggily and stretching for a moment before he gripped his katana tightly and breathed in, turning towards the burning tree coming his way. His feet shifted and he breathed in, before rushing off uphill, his blade reigniting with flames as he went. "Breath of the Sun, Sixth Dance: High-Noon Flare!" Tanjiro announced as he disappeared into a burst of speed with a sudden flare right as the trunk was about to catch him, wisps of his bright flames flowing amidst Chihime's own purple ones before the entire tree was slashed apart in three, the purple flames fading as its broken pieces fell apart.

He would then reappeared in front of the demon who already had her blade raised and deliver a series of quick but powerful strikes that even she had trouble defending against, but managed to do so with only a few scrapes and scratches before blocking Tanjiro's final blow and being sent skidding back along the side of the slope. He did not give up though, and shot off after Chihime, not even letting the Breath of the Sun's flames bathing his blade to disappear before causing them to resurge in a more focused form as he went for another technique, "Breath of the Sun, First Dance: Waltz!" He cried out, slashing at her with his flaming sword and forcing the demon to back away herself, with him moving in close pursuit.

The two partook in a cat and mouse game around the mountain peak, with Tanjiro chasing after his foe brandishing his flaming sword while Chihime was for the first time forced to stay on the defensive, dodging and deflecting his seemingly endless series of sword swings while all the while trying and failing to keep her distance from him. She tried at one point to guide him back towards the flames, but this avenue was cut off with a flaming slash that nearly cost her a leg. The fight was eventually taken to the air too when Chihime took a chance she'd managed to back away from her foe and jumped up onto a nearby tree's branch, using it as a platform to get some air and hopefully gain some distance from him. Problem was Tanjiro did not give up so easily, and did much of the same, intercepting her mid-fall and forcing her to defend herself against his flaming blade while midair. With a powerful swing at her raised blade, he'd thus knock the demon back down to the ground, falling right by the rock marking the top of the mountain. She'd have to rise quickly though, in order to block a falling Tanjiro's slash with a swing of her own, except he'd use the clash of their blades to flip over her and land on the side of the rock, followed by shooting off back at her with a clean shot at her neck with what he fully intended to be a finishing blow.

He was caught off guard, however, when a moment before his swing landed, the demon would glance at him from over her shoulder, and he could've sworn that he heard her sigh from behind the mask, almost as in exasperation. And then, even though it had not been there a moment earlier, her blade had been raised before his own flaming one with its edgeless side. Rather than deflecting blocking it, however, it simply guided his swing past her with its own power while the demon moved to the side, breaking the lock and swinging around while maintaining the momentum built by his own attack as she raised her katana, its edge now glowing in a dark red coloration that seemed to be bleeding out of it to disappear into the air, "Dance of the Blood Moon, Second Step," He barely heard Chihime whisper from underneath her mask, finally breaking her silence, "Red Riposte."

A moment before she brought down the blade, Tanjiro's forescent would suddenly detect a very strong smell, causing him to very clearly visualize his own form being separated in two halves with a vertical slash across his torso, so what he did was use the momentum of his swing to toss himself to the side. Had he done so a moment later, his vision would've certainly been more than just that, as Chihime's sword swing, despite missing him, did indeed hit something. More specifically, with a thunderous sound, it had cleaved the house-sized boulder that marked the peak of the mountain clean in two while also leaving a deep carving on the ground that her sword swing had dug up. Despite all that, all she did was lower her blade and stare over at the astounded Tanjiro in clear frustration of having missed her swing even after being pushed to use a Breath Technique.

"_She used the power of my own technique and redirected it with twice the power just there...that's crazy..._" He thought, cold sweat running down the side of his forehead as he gripped the hilt of his katana, Waltz's fire long extinguished, "'_Dance of the Blood Moon'...I've never heard of any breath style like that._" Tanjiro mused silently, but he didn't have to think too hard to guess why. That technique had been made to parry and return a sword technique, not a demon's attack. It was not a Demon Slayer's style but rather a style made to kill Demon Slayers...

There was also something very unnerving to him with the 'Dance' as she called it in specific, seeing as it was very similar to his family's own 'Dance of the Fire God'. It wasn't just the name either, there were definitely odd similarities in the ways they fought he'd noticed throughout the times when their blades met, more so than he had when sparring with any of the Senses or even the Water Pillar. It was almost like her breath technique was somehow a bastardization of his own...except...mixed with something else. "_This demon...just why is she wearing that mask...?_" He seemed to wonder for the first time since meeting her, "_Just...just who is she?_"

He wouldn't get much time to ponder though as Chihime quickly returned to her attack moving in a blur to reappear in front of him, her blade thrusting right at his face. In his momentary distraction, he was not able to raise his guard in time and ended up with a scratch across his cheek from the deflecting edge of her blade. The demon pressed him further with a quick and focused attack administered to pierce his guard while pushing him down the mountain, but Tanjiro was able to hold his ground. That is, until he tried to counterattack by swinging his blade down on her, a blow Chihime easily switched her body to dodge before lashing out to grab him by the wrist, holding down the demon Slayer while already thrusting a sword at his chest.

Tanjiro managed to think quickly and twist his arm in order to switch it around and give him the chance to throw his katana upwards, allowing the boy to catch it with his other hand and barely deflect her own thrusting blade before lashing out with a slash of his own to give himself to yank his arm free while she was blocking and move off to open some distance. Despite that, he wouldn't get too far as Chihime shot off at full speed after him, forcing him to spin around mid-run to swing his blade and deflect her incoming slash, which instead cut into the ground, cutting its way up the side of a tree as she climbed it on sheer momentum before shooting off back down at Tanjiro again.

Despite her blow missing with the swordsman's quick dodge, it instead cut a tear into the earth and raised another dust cloud amidst which the two continued their clash of blades amidst, their missed swings splitting apart and reshaping the dust around them as they fought. Even then though, with the cloud quickly beginning to clear, Tanjiro lost his brief advantage of smell and she began retaking control of the fight once again, bringing down powerful blows against his guard before throwing a feint that he only barely blocked, not switching his footwork in time and therefore being thrown back by the blow, skidding and coming to a stop as his back hit the side of a tree.

He had little breathing time even then as Chihime shot out of the fading cloud dust with her blade once again bleeding red as it had the last time she used a breath technique, and he knew he had to move quickly, "Dance of the Blood Moon, Fourth Step: Cross Cutter." She murmured calmly as she reached him and proceeded to unleash two powerful intercrossing upward vertical slashes with her blade so quick one might have thought it was but a single swing.

The two swings however fazed through the surprised figure of Tanjiro as if he wasn't even then, and the demon would realize it was but an afterimage just in time to spin around and block her opponent's midair counterattack, "Breath of the Sun, Eighth Dance, Parhelion Rainbow!" He called out in between gritted teeth, shoving at her with his blade to push himself back and land some distance away on his feet. This though only earned him a moment's breath, as Chihime rushed off after him again with her blade readied. That single breath though was enough for him to pull off another technique, "Breath of the Sun, Second Dance: Crimson Horizon!" Tanjiro declared while unleashing a 360-degree flaming slash. The demon seemed to have seen that coming though as she suddenly went down into a knee slide, her neck bending back to allow his blade to narrowly fly over his head while her free hand sunk its claws onto the ground to quickly slow down her momentum and push herself to the side at the moment he ended his attack and leaving her in the perfect position to throw a kick at his sword hand. The blow landed, serving to not only dislocate his wrist but disarm the katana off his one-handed grip, the weapon sent flying downhill and bouncing off the ground, coming to a stop just by the ring of flames surrounding the clearing.

Tanjiro grit his teeth, and almost instinctively reached out with his remaining good hand at the katana's direction before pulling back as his arm was very nearly lopped off by Chihime's swinging blade. He had to suddenly fall back, relying on his Forescent to dodge around her attacks without a weapon to his aid. So, this was a bad situation. She evidently had returned the favor of taking his weapon away from when he cut her hand off, not to mention the intense pain in his wrist as his dominant hand was made near-useless, his even more painful forehead burn and him not having any unnatural abilities like her igniting blood to easily turn around the situation. While dodging around and trying to keep himself facing her back to difficult her attacking, he reminded himself that there was actually something he could do without his sword. That was what led to Tanjiro reusing his Parhelion Rainbow to try and get past Chihime once she spun around to swing at him and ended up met with his afterimage as he flipped over her.

Instead of giving himself the chance to rush off and regain his weapon as planned, Tanjiro instead would have the edge of his haori grabbed when he was suddenly mid flip when the demon reached out behind her head and swung around, throwing him at the opposite direction of his sword, namely uphill, leaving him sprawling at the landing before coming to a stop by crashing onto the unsliced size of the massive boulder. "_Ugh...guess the same trick won't work on her twice..._" He thought, grunting painfully after his rough landing. He would have to recover quickly though, as Chihime was once again rushing him, her blade bleeding red as it did when she used a breath technique.

"Dance of the Blood Moon, Third Step: Dark Impaler." The demon murmured, taking a single-handed hold of her blade by its pommel with her fingers pressed around the length of the hilt before she thrust it straight at Tanjiro, forcing the boy to jump and avoid being skewered, climbing the rock with his momentum and holding onto a crack on its side probably created by one of their earlier clashes, with his good hand to support his weight. Despite her blade having easily sunk nearly all the way down to the hilt into the rock, spreading multiple more cracks around the point of impact, Chihime showed she was not done yet, dragging her katana upwards to unleash with it a slash intent on catching Tanjiro further up the boulder while simultaneously dragging it off its rocky prison.

The swordsman pushed himself to the side to avoid the slash running up its length and slid his way down its narrow slope towards Chihime, pushing himself to flip over an incoming attack when he was nearing the bottom. Even then though, he was lucky to land safely, and after that was barely given a moment's reprieve when she attacked again, forcing him to back up along the length of the rock as her missed blade swings tear asunder the bottom of the boulder without the least bit of care for it, focused only on the human she was attacking. This meant Tanjiro was the only one who noticed when the destruction caused by her sword in the rock created more cracks that spread further and further upward, making it quickly seem as it was all going to collapse at any moment.

With that in mind, he'd dodge another one of her swings before flipping to the side, landing on the side of the boulder and running back down to the ground, on the process avoiding an upward slash that augmented the previous damage to the point where Tanjiro could tell that dam was about to burst. Chihime spun around with her blade swinging, forcing him to intercept her arm with his left hand by taking a hold of her forearm before using his busted right hand to take hold of her other wrist to prevent her from lashing out with her claws. She struggled against his hold for a moment, knowing it wouldn't be long until she overpowered him in strength and freed herself up to attack again, but Tanjiro kept his ground, sweat dripping down his forehead in his struggle as he waited for the right moment, keeping a discrete eye on the spreading cracks on the boulder above and the small pieces that broke off from it and fell to the ground.

All he needed was another moment to hold back Chihime, but her naturally superior strength already present in a demon plus the breathing techniques she used to further supplant it was allowing her to begin pushing him back further and further, glaring at him with her mismatched eyes from behind her mask. He knew she could easily switch up her stance and attack him given her position, especially with her Demon Blood Art, but he also knew she saw this as a chance to finally get a hit in after having to deal with his constant dodging, which was why she was playing to his game and trying to overpower him rather than setting him on fire or flipping over him to kick his head off., "_Almost...almost..._" Tanjiro thought in between gritted teeth, his bad hand burning in pain from having to hold her back. He knew it was only a matter of seconds before he lost this match of strength, and gave the demon her long-awaited chance to attack. Luckily though, the damage accumulated at the massive rock chose that moment to hit its limit, finally breaking apart high above and falling down in a rain of debris towards the two.

With the loud cracking sound of rock breaking, Chihime turned her gaze upwards and off Tanjiro to see what that was for a brief moment, but that was just the brief moment he had been waiting for. QuicklyTanjiro pushed her two hands to the side and, with all his strength, released a mighty headbutt at his opponent, his hardened skull crashing against the mask with enough power to spread a series of cracks originating from the point of impact across it, large pieces breaking off with her face quickly being uncovered as she was thrown back by the headbutt's impact. She'd try to rise up again, but be met with several raining rocks that fell on top of her, burying the demon under a pile of debris right at the bottom of the boulder.

As for Tanjiro, he had moved back at the last moment after headbutting her, letting go of Chihime, and allowing her to be buried under an avalanche of her own. That, as he already knew, was only a way for him to buy time though. Time he didn't waste as he quickly ran downhill to where his disarmed sword had been left, right by the demon's purple wall of flames. He could only be thankful it hadn't been tossed this way just a bit harder, or else he would have been left permanently disarmed. With his sword recovered, he would work then on fixing his wrist with a quick, painful pull that set his bones back in place, though it still left behind a large bruise in there. If given some more time he could use his own muscles to set it in place properly, but he really didn't have the comfort to do so.

Sure enough, no sooner was he done fixing himself that the pile of rocks in which he had buried his foe under exploded with a large cloud of dust and he took a deep breath in preparation to start off round two, closing his eyes to focus his own sense of smell and raising his sword at eye-level in a parrying stance. A blurry shadow would move through the cloud, bursting through the dust in a downhill beeline towards the red-clad swordsman. Tanjiro opened his eyes wide as his Forescent flared and struck down to meet Chihime's blade, their swords clashing with enough force to lower the wall of flames behind him for a moment. The boy had planned in fact to break their lock and spin around with a vertical swing aiming to catch her in the neck, except he'd take notice of his foe before him, and his eyes widened as his body suddenly froze.

Chihime, in turn, noticed him seizing and took the chance to once again disarm the katana off his hands with a quick maneuver, spinning around to slash his head off. Rather than dodging like he had done a thousand times before though, Tanjiro failed to move a single muscle as her swing stopped the moment her edge made contact with his neck, leaving a faint cut to the side of his throat and not even causing him to blink. The look on his face had caught her off guard, his eyes were impossibly wide, his mouth left half-open, moving as if trying to say something but not finding it in himself to let it out. It took her a moment for her to realize his reaction had come from her unmasked face, seeing as whatever remained of the mask after it was broken by his headbutting was left behind the large pile of rocks some ways up the hill.

It was an odd feeling, that. One unlike anything he'd ever felt before. It was as if he had laid eyes upon a living contradiction, a true paradox, the worst-case scenario. It made sense to him now, why he had felt so odd about her smell, how there was something he recognized in it. Even buried amidst the scent of blood and ash it should have still been something he should've been able to make out, but it was as if his own brain had been denying himself such a conclusion, knowing the realization would be too much for him to handle. But now, standing there face to face with it, he had nothing else left but to confront the truth. The wounds created by the fateful day in which he had lost his entire family had never truly healed, instead only stitched and covered, left to bleed out from time to time. However, at that moment, it was as if they had all suddenly burst open as fresh as when the realization of his loss had hit him years ago. They were dead, all of them. So how come his sister was standing right in front of him after being beheaded by a Demon Slayer before his very eyes...?

"...Nezuko...?" The boy managed to muster out quietly, unable to draw out much more than that in his near-catatonic state. He watched as the form of his sister widened the mismatched eyes marking her rank almost in recognition at the name for a moment before suddenly grunting, a palm rising against her head as in pain. Tanjiro watched, not knowing what to make of it or do, her sword being removed from his neck as she stared at him with an eye in between her fingers, grunting again before reaching out to him and shoving the swordsman aside, causing him to stumble slightly

She still kept her hand raised to her head, even as she stepped towards the ring of fire of her own creation, "Nezuko, wait!" Tanjiro called out, his daze broken by her shove and leaving him with more questions than answers. He dashed out in a hurry and tried to grab her shoulder to prevent Nezuko from stepping into the fire, but right before he could reach her, she'd turn around and strike him across the face with the back of her fist. He was sent sprawling roughly in the ground, blood dripping from the corner of his lip. Groaning, Tanjiiro would look up, and see his sister staring coldly at him from over her shoulder, any previous sense of familiarity in it by now gone.

After a moment, she'd look away, and wordlessly step into the ring of flame, her shadow persisting in it for a moment before disappearing, leaving Tanjiro behind with the enormous emotional weight of their encounter just then falling all for his shoulders to bear. He'd stare into the flames from his position long and hard, unresponsive to the world around him. After a while, they would fade by themselves, leaving him, once again, completely alone.

**A/N: Geez, what a chapter, amirite? Talk about sibling squabble. Seriously though, this really is a big deal. After all, this has been built up literally from chapter one, from their separation to their reunion.**** I even named them nearly the same thing**** And now, after this arc, some things are gonna have to change for our main characters. Not just for Inosuke and Zenitsu, but now for Tanjiro too, seeing as his whole world has just been flipped upside down, but let's talk a bit about the chapter itself rather than just its consequences.**

**So, this whole chapter is Tanjiro vs Chihime, all leading up to the way it concludes with that mask being broken and the big reveal moment ensuing. I really hoped I managed to catch the shock on that one. The mask really has been an excuse from day one for the two to fight each other without any strong emotional attachments, though there is still some suspension of disbelief involved seeing as Tanjiro should, by all means, recognize her.**

**Going a bit further back though, a big reveal I've been waiting on this chapter to drop is Chihime's Breathing Style. It's one of my creation, the only one that will appear in this story. As most of you probably guessed from Tanjiro's thoughts on it, it's sort of a halfway ground between the memories Dance of the Fire God Nezuko retains in her subconscious and the Breath of the Moon taught to Chihime by Kokushibou, with some extra personal spin that differentiates it from either styles, and thus we have the Dance of the Blood Moon. It differentiates from normal breath styles since it is made to fight swordsmen rather than demons, thus having techniques such as a counter built into it through a riposte.**

**Sword fights are usually difficult to make interesting in a writing format, but I tried to use the surroundings as setpieces like the trees and the big rock to make it a bit more interesting. I also took reference from other sword fights in anime. SAO, despite how unappealing it is to me as a series, was actually a great help in helping me make the choreography more interesting. I might have ripped off a thing or two in the coreography used for one specific sword fight in the movie, its probably not too hard to find if you look for it.**

**What else...? Oh, some of you might've noticed how I remained the Breath of the Sun's go-to stab technique from Sunflower Lance to Piercing Sunlight. Yes, Sunflower Lance sounds cooler, even I have to agree, but this is not a meaningless decision. If I am not completely vague with why I'm doing this though, it'll be way easy to guess why, and even that is saying too much. So, hold on and bide your time, I'll get to it eventually...way eventually, actually. **

**Anyway, I'm wrapping up this chapter. Thanks to DownwardDive once again for giving me the idea of making Nezuko Kokushibou's apprentice, thus leading all the way to this chapter-long sword fight. If you're gonna complain about it, please do it to him.**

**So, the Reviews.**

_thestormwriter123: Nooooooooooo! Inosuke lost his most defining charectarisations!_

_I'm not sure how you're gonna make zenitsu capable of the thunder breathing style anymore seeing as it requires the use of two full hands... _

_Also , still waiting for tanjiro vs nezuko, it'll be a blast!_

_Good chapter, keep up the great work_

**Well, Gyomei adapted an entire breathing style so he could still fight while being blind, so really its not too farfetched to do the same. Especially when the likes of Inosuke developed one basically from scratch.**

_gogo bananas: I gotta say, this story is soooo fuckin good I love it so much_

_I love the character development for Zenitsu_

_gotta wonder how ur gonna even him out now tho_

**Thanks, I'm glad you're liking what I have for Zenitsu so far.**

_Guest: Ouch poor zenitsu's fingers_

**Yeah, that was probably quite painful.**

_FallohideDragon: __Hello! I just wanted to say that I absolutely adore this fic, it's the first KnY fic I've read so far and I can already tell that few will match it. Your style, use of language and description, especially during fight scenes, is incredible! The detail is fabulous, I can picture every movement, every single emotion in my head and the charactisation is perfectly in line with the AU you've created, so thank you for that. I greatly look forward to the next chapter!_

_I do have one piece of constructive criticism, but I'll ask your permission to give it first, as I am unsure whether it is a technique you employ purposefully or not._

_THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!_

**I'm glad you really enjoyed the story so far. Based on the way you worded the second paragraph though, I have a guess or two on what that criticism be. Still, I'd love to hear it. If fixing it would make the whole thing better, then anything goes.**

_EMSNaruto: __Quit playing bro, give my mans zenitsu his fingers back you fiend_

**Yeah bruv, immafraid tha's gonna be a hard no.**

_cyberas: Huh Zenitsu's blade broke, that sucks. I liked that in the manga he was the only one of the three stooges that never had his blade broken, having that idea of being the most durable blade in his backstory. Zenitsu losing most of his left hand is interesting, and not the way I thought things would go. I was expecting Godspeed instead to decapitate Rui. I am pleased that they still lost though, it'd be weird for both of them to be strong enough to beat a lower moon. I don't know how you'll take his character, since this might make Zenitsu even more of a coward. I still love my favorite lightning boy though. _

_for a very brief review, I find that you sometimes make fight scenes drag out too much. In Genya, Kanao vs jojo spider dad I sometimes skim through some paragraphs because it dragged out too much. I do like how you're letting characters go in different directions._

**To be honest, I took note of how his blade never broke, but never thought too much about it in regard to his backstory. I'm glad I managed to subvert your expectations favorably though. And regarding Zenitsu, he is still my favorite character in the actual series, so while this will naturally drag him back some ways back, his character arc here will be far bigger than those few missing fingers.**

**I'm sorry you feel the fights drag out too much, but that is not as much a flaw in my writing as I see it as it is a deliberate choice. This whole story, if not the series has a whole, can be divided by the characters interacting with one another and the actual Demon Slaying of it, and given the first one is the one that naturally happens more often than the latter, I feel like I can't skimp out on the latter. Kanao, for example, had the least to do in this arc of the Five Senses, so I feel those four thousand words of fighting are necessary to get a good idea of what she can do in a fight in relation to other characters and give her some cool moments.**

_Knighthunter911700: I just had to start reading this fanfic when it is at its biggest cliffhanger! I really like the take of what would happen differently to cannon and I can't wait to see the next chapter._**  
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**Well, I'm glad to have a new reader. Thanks for your support, and I hope the cliffhanger paid off for you.**

_lordpurgatory23: muah*_

_its a masstapeece_

**Wouldn't really call it that, but the sentiment is appreciated.**

_HamburgerLife: yayyy, happy 5 month anniversary!_

_Love the fight scenes, rlly the point of the anime's genre being adventure. Genya, still fab as always. Kanao, badass as always. Inosuke, adorable as always. Zenitsu, human as always._

_Tanjiro...rip Tanjiro has no idea who he's fighting..._

**Thanks.**

**And indeed he didn't…well, now he does, but how that affects him is something you'll have to wait to see.**

_clone59yahoo com: THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE! I just came back from a grueling learning secession and I needed something precious to read._

**You're always welcome. Good to see the misery from these characters helps you mitigate yours. **

_Guest: Noooi, why you got to do that to my boy Zenitsu?! But seriously though, amazing chapter! And amazing fight scenes!_

**Why? Really, the main reason is to develop his character a bit more and test his convictions. Again, something we'll have to wait to see after this arc.**

**Wrapping up for today, given the manga seems to be going into an epilogue as of the last released chapter, this might very well be the last chapter I write while Kimetsu no Yaiba is in publication. really curious as to see how they will put the ending notes on such a great series. And if you're also curious for what I'm gonna do on my end, please leave a review for me to reply in the next chapter. Got 200 of those as of posting this chapter, which I forgot to mention, but it's pretty cool. Not that it's nearly enough for me though, so keep 'em coming. **

**So, next time we'll get to the final chapter in the Natagumo Mountain Arc, tying up all loose ends and doing everything we gotta do before moving on...though I do have a surprise or two up my sleeve still. See y'all soon, Sky signing out.**


	22. A Painful Aftermath

For the first time in his life, Inosuke Hashibira found himself fleeing, rushing his way down the mountain while carrying over his shoulder, by the support of his right arm, an unconscious Zenitsu. The blond boy's head and other hand were hanging low, the latter of which was still continuously bleeding from the three fingers he had lost. This was all without even mentioning how Inosuke was also injured and losing even more blood than Zenitsu from the string-created cuts along his arms, leg and face. He was dazed, but managed to keep moving with great struggle through sheer adrenaline, fully aware that there was a powerful demon after them, probably following the trail of blood they were leaving behind. After all, his friend might've blinded Rui for a second, but it was always very clear that the moment he healed from it, the Lower Moon would be coming for them, and if them both being terribly wounded wasn't bad enough, then the fact that neither had a sword on them was.

"_C'mon…just a bit further down…_" The injured Demon Slayer grunted, pushing past his tire even as his legs felt heavier and heavier at every step. He knew though deep down that getting to the bottom wouldn't help. Even if they managed to bump into a fellow Sense before the Lower Moon could catch up, he doubted anyone but Tanjiro would have a chance of holding him back with them in their current state and, last he saw, the red-clad swordsman had been running his way up the mountain, not down. Really, all he could do was go on for as long as he could before his body gave out and hopefully the demon would give up chasing them before that, "_…ah, who am I kidding?_" Inosuke thought with his teeth gritting, "_That bastard's not gonna let up…we're both dead meat."_

"Hey!" A voice suddenly called out, and the boy blinked as he stared up, and saw another figure running up their way with a drawn sword at his hand , one he quickly recognized as the surviving Demon Slayer from the last team to raid the mountain, the one they had saved upon arriving at Natagumo. It honestly took a moment, but he did manage to recall the boy's name as Murata.

"You! What are you doing up here?!" Inosuke grunted as the older swordsman came to a stop before him, panting somewhat in his rush up the mountain, "We told you to stay down there! This place is dangerous! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Murata stared at him somewhat nervously before suddenly looking away, his expression marred with guilt, "I…I couldn't just stay down there and leave you guys alone. I had to come up to see if I can help!"

"Well, you can't!" Inosuke exclaimed angrily, "There's a Demon Moon right behind us, and he'll be arriving here at any moment! If you really wanna survive this, then we gotta continue moving down right now!"

This piece of information seemed to startle Murata for a moment, allowing the fear to shine through in his expression. Yet he didn't move aside, and as the situation fully dawned on him, his regrets once again overwhelmed his guilt, "…on my way up here, I found a clearing. There were some thrown about swords and burnt pieces of Demon Slayer's uniforms…that was my team, wasn't it?"

Inosuke paused upon hearing this, and his anger seemed to subside as he experienced a rather unfamiliar feeling for him. He was actually sorry for the older teen, having lost his comrades in such a terrible situation, "…it was, but that doesn't have to be you." He tried convincing him, "The demon chasing us might be even stronger than the one that took down your team. There's no way you can take him down by yourself, but if we go now we can still run away together."

"…'we don't need the kind of advice from the kind of trash that would run on your own team.' That's what you said to me, right?" Murata recalled, catching Inosuke off guard with his own words, "You know, you weren't wrong. I ran away on my own comrades. The least I can do now is redeem myself and protect you guys. You were the ones who saved me, after all…"

"Are you crazy?! This is not just any regular demon, it's a Lower Moon!" The boy exclaimed, "Blondie and I nearly got ourselves killed fighting him, you don't stand a chance!"

"Hey, you're not just talking to any Demon Slayer." Murata told him with a sudden bout of boldness, "I'm your senior and a Kinoe at that. Don't go around underestimating me…I'll hold him off long enough for you to open some distance and reach the bottom of the mountain. As soon as I get the chance, I'll escape him and meet you there."

Inosuke was still hesitant, but he could see by the young man's eyes that he meant what he said. After all, he had seen the same look reflected on his own eyes during better times, so he knew firsthand that convincing him to go with them in the little time they had would be near impossible. "…alright, we're gonna be right up ahead. Don't take too long."

"Yeah, sure thing." Murata agreed, turning his gaze up the mountain as Inosuke ran past the Slayer with Zenitsu still being dragged alongside him. He didn't want to leave the guy alone to confront a Lower Moon by himself but he knew he was in no condition to aid him in battle, not to mention that if their roles were switched, he would most certainly be the one jumping in to fight the demon. All he could do now was keep moving and hope Murata would live up to his word.

* * *

For all his bravado, Murata couldn't help but be unsure. After all, the last encounter he had with a Lower Moon involved his whole team being taken out, so could he really do much against a possibly even stronger demon all by himself? "_No! You can't think of it like that!_" He exclaimed silently, gripping his hilt tighter, "_You're a Demon Slayer! You were trained for this! Stupid rankings don't matter, you just have to hold him back long enough for those guys to run off!"_

He'd only have a short while to steel his resolve however as five strings wrapped around the length of a nearby tree and suddenly pulled down a white-haired and ashy haired figure of a pale young boy, landing some distance away from the Demon Slayer and causing the startled swordsman to raise his blade. "Now...you don't look like either of the Demon Slayers I was chasing..." The demon said, looking up at the young man with his mismatched eyes, the left of which had the Lower Moon Five symbol imprinted upon its pupil, "Normally, I would just put you down, but seeing as I am more intent on ending the other two, I will let you live provided you tell me where they went."

"_Great...it's really another Demon Moon...two in one mountain...just my luck._" Murata thought nervously, his body stiffening in its stance. Yet, despite how he felt at the moment, he couldn't bring himself to turn tail and run. If he did, that meant he was not worthy of wearing his uniform nor of brandishing his sword, "_Stand your ground, Murata...you're a Demon Slayer, so act like it!_"

"That won't be happening..." He declared, breathing in before dashing towards the demon who, in turn, only narrowed his eyes. Murata drew back his blade with a single-handed grip, water flowing across its length as he called upon one of his Breath Techniques, "Breath of Water, First Style: Water Surface-"

The sword would be barely swung however as the Lower Moon raised a finger and had a single, near-invisible string slice right through the young man's sword arm, maiming him at the elbow and effectively interrupting the attack as Murata fell to his knees, gripping tightly onto the stump of his arm, his head lowered, "You're right..." The demon agreed coldly, "I wouldn't have let you survive regardless of what you said..."

"_Don't scream! Just don't scream!_" Murata told himself, holding tightly onto his wound to staunch the bleeding while biting down on his lip with nearly enough force to nearly rip a chunk off his bottom lip, "_If you scream they're gonna try and come back to help you...it might be too late for me, but I can still help them make it!_" He thought determinedly, his left hand shooting out to grab his dropped katana, rising while slashing at the demon's neck with a determined cry.

The Lower Moon barely blinked and, with a wave of his wrist, another string would intercept his blade and cut its length in half, making it too short to even reach him. Murata blinked, but barely had the time to process as much before Rui raised his hand, the remainder of the strings he wielded suddenly wrapping around the Slayer's body and lifting him into the air a foot off the ground, effectively immobilizing his already very injured form, "You Demon Slayers...you're all so pesky." The boy-looking creature grunted, pulling down slightly at the strings and causing the entrapped Slayer to suddenly shift diagonally, his head leaning in so he was at eye-level with the short demon, "You come and disrupt our peaceful lives, intent on slaying all demons as if you're judges of right and wrong. Tell me, was coming here and ruining this family worth your pathetic life...?"

"...maybe it wasn't." Murata earnestly admitted, feeling surprisedly unafraid despite the situation he was in, "But you've ruined a lot of families yourselves, you know? How many siblings, parents and children have you not eaten...? How many families haven't you ruined? You don't need to be a moral judge to see that it's wrong." He said and noticed the demon's changing expression as he frowned, his words seeming to affect him in a way, "One way or another, justice will come. I guess I was never strong enough to bring it about...but judging from how angry you seem, those two must've gotten close." The Lower Moon's eyes then narrowed as he scoffed irritably, but before he could say something the young man continued, "Demons are very fragile. They can't even survive in sunlight...I'm sure eventually, every single one of you will have to face the consequence of your actions."

He would then grunt painfully as the angered demon yanked at his strings and had them dig deeper into his skin, cutting into muscle and causing intense pain around his body, "You sure talk a lot for a human with his life hanging on my strings..." He commented in between gritted teeth.

"_Damn...I really thought I could've escaped this_ one..." Murata managed to think despite the pain he was in, "_I really hope those guys manage to get away safe...I could tell from the first glance...they're all Demon Slayers who'll one day really make a difference..._" Defiantly, the Demon Slayer mustered a grin in spite of the demon's torture, "Justice will be coming for you too, you know...? Maybe not tonight, nor tomorow...but very soon."

That was the last thing he said before the irate Lower Moon closed his hand into a fist, tightening the strings wrapped around Murata, a sickening sound of flesh being sliced as blood painted the surroundings red.

* * *

Rui only narrowed his eyes as blood splattered across his face, the strings on his hand disappearing as he turned away from the mess of meat before him. He was angry at himself for letting that Demon Slayer rile him up, to the point where disposing of him had barely been satisfactory. He had wasted too much time entertaining the boy in an attempt to let out his own frustrations instead of chasing after his two actual targets as he intended. Not that either would get all that far considering the injuries slowing them down.

Speaking of which he would then notice a noticeable trail of blood away from where he'd confronted the Demon Slayer heading all the way down the mountain. He kneeled down briefly to examine it and confirm his suspicions as it was indeed two different kinds of blood, meaning two different humans, or two different Demon Slayers. The Lower Moon smirked, realizing he now had a trail leading straight to the two of them. In his initial rage he might've overlooked that, but it was easy to forget as a demon how much those pesky humans bled when you cut them a bit. He was about to start making his way down to follow after the trail and enact his awaited revenge when he heard something behind him and realized there was another presence nearby. He turned around and saw the familiar figure of a white-clad swordswoman, Chihime having landed behind him, now walking towards Rui with an odd look in her once again unmasked face.

"Ah, so you're here...I'm glad you disposed of that stupid mask." He told his fellow Lower Moon, glancing briefly back down the mountain, "I'm sure you've realized by now the Demon Slayer situation is worse than we thought. Two of them managed to escape me, but they are wounded, just down the mountain. If we go together we can-"

"Stop talking," Chihime told him bluntly, looking at him annoyedly. This shocked Rui briefly, not having expected her to lash out like that and not knowing how to reply for a moment. She took a hold of her katana by the hilt, and drew it with a single, fluid motion, before twirling it around and stabbing it tip first into the ground, followed by stepping past it and towards her fellow demon.

"What...what are you doing?" Rui inquired, not knowing what to expect from her. He could tell she was off, the look in her eyes was different. While quick to draw the blade, she was mostly calm and quiet from what he had seen. Now though, while still quiet, he couldn't exactly call her calm. There was an unnerving aura about his fellow Lower Moon, and he could tell that despite still being infuriated by how close those two Demon Slayers had managed to come close to ending him, whatever was upsetting her went way beyond that.

"Demons should fight like demons." Chihime explained briefly, reaching inside her sleeves to cut deeply along both her forearms with her claws, letting blood spill along both her arms, "Lower Moon Four Rui, I challenge you to a Blood Battle for your ranking amidst the Demon Moons."

This...was honestly not something Rui expected in the slightest. Blood Battles were common knowledge for anyone of their ranking, how one could put their very position in the line against a fellow Demon Moon for a one-on-one duel which assured the winner would remain with the superior number. Yet, not once had he heard of it ever being called upon by anyone before. For a moment, he even doubted she actually meant it but that thought would be erased away the moment she breathed in, disappearing in a burst of speed to reappear right in front of him, already swinging a fist for his face. He would attempt to create five strings and use them to intercept her blow, but the moment before it made impact, her entire arm would burst into purple flames, burning through his threads and clearing the way for her punch to strike him across the cheek, sending him flying across the dark forest at high speeds.

While still midair, Rui regained his bearings and reached out with his strings, wrapping five of each hand around a different tree in order to anchor himself and stop his momentum, allowing him to flip midair while dismissing his strings and land on his feet with only a slight skid back, glaring up viciously at the calmly approaching Chihime, "I've grown tired of entertaining your childish whims." She told him coldly, "Do you really think those other demons you keep as prisoners really think of you as their family? They're all just scared and would leave you to rot the moment they got a chance to do so."

"Shut up!" Rui snarled, drenching his strings with blood again as he pulled at them to enclose on Chihime from both sides. She stood unreactive, however, simply reigniting her flames once the threads approached to easily burn through them faster than they could reach her. She moved in quickly, closing distance again aiming to strike, forcing Rui to nimbly leap to the side while sending more strings at her, which she again easily burned through before they could ever make contact and gave chase, knocking his hand aside as he prepared another set of strings and landing a kick on his chest to once again throw him back.

This time though, Rui had learned his lesson, and instead of trying to regain his balance, he instead attempted to slow down Chihime, setting up dozens of extended strings in between himself and his fellow Lower Moon before he hit the ground again and ended up sprawling on landing. Furthermore, the moment he regained his footing, he would quickly act by resorting to the same projectile tactic he'd utilized earlier against the other Demon Slayers except en masse, slicing down several trees and using his strings to grab and launch them towards his foe as projectiles. After all, if attacking her with the threads themselves was useless, his only choice was to improvise in his conditions. Chihime, in turn, breathed in calmly as he set up all his precautions before moving off in a blur, weaving with great the extended threads snapping and lashing out at her as well as the flying tree trunks that would often get redirected or sliced apart by those same threads.

With several strings snapped and all his trees thrown, Rui would only watch as his foe somersaulted over two intercrossing threads and landed behind him, already swinging a clawed hand at his neck. He, however, managed to see that coming and lashed out with a string from his thumb over his shoulder that momentarily wrapped around her arm and allowed him to yank it to the side, making sure not to cut deep enough to pierce skin and thus preventing her from immediately destroying it down with her flames. Of course, the string would be burnt regardless, but that brief opening allowed Rui to return the earlier kick by spinning around and landing a blow of his own to push her back.

Chihime had blocked the blow but regardless was sent back due to the force put behind it. As she came to a stop though, she'd only scoff as she rose fully to her feet again. "What a pathetic kick...for all that bravado, you really can't do much without those strings of yours, huh?"

A vein emerged around Rui's temple, his frustration growing even further at how the girl was talking down to him. From the day when Muzan had appeared to make him the offer of demonhood, to leave his sickly human husk behind and transcend into a superior being, he had always been strong. Of course, there still existed stronger demons and stronger humans, but in every situation so far, he'd been the top dog almost every time. He had never been humiliated so badly, let alone by a demon numerically weaker than himself. Not until now, but he would not let that stand, "My strings are more than enough to cut through the likes od you..." He snarled, raising his hands and produced several more crimson strings that, upon released, involved him in an almost orb-like wall surrounding the Lower Moon. He then raised his hands to take aim at Chihime, and in between them, a rotating sphere of strings would form, thus creating the epicenter of a massive wall of red interlacing threads quickly moving in and out of view, moulding into a red distorted aura of strings all around him. This was his strongest attack, one he could barely even aim, but that would destroy everything in its path with absolute certainty before one could even realize it had reached them. Of course, with her being a human, this wouldn't really kill his foe, but at the very least it would teach her an unforgettable lesson, "Demon Blood Art: Cutting Thread Rotation!" He announced as the wall of red with its orbital epicenter moved towards her, tearing everything down to every last blade of grass that stood in its way to undetectably small pieces.

Chihime, in the face of such a powerful attack covering her entire field of vision, only sighed. She raised her hands and used both her index fingers to slash the other hand's wrist and allowed herself to bleed a small puddle on the ground below. "Demon Blood Art," She said in return, "Burning Blood." With those words, her blood shone for a moment before exploding, enveloping her in a purple inferno comparable in size to the red wall of threads, effectively matching and allowing the flames to overtake the strings, turning what was once a deadly attack into nothing more than falling ash.

Rui was left staring agape at the purple flames while the burning remnants of his attack rained down around him. That is until his concentration was broken by the fire suddenly parting in two, a corridor created amidst the flames to reveal an unharmed Chihime calmly striding towards him. "You should've realized by now that no matter how large or powerful an attack you throw at me, my flames will always burn through your strings. My Blood Art simply holds an inherent advantage over yours." She stated, sighing in exasperation, "Lord Muzan told me out of all the previous Lower Moons, none held more potential in them than you...and I can see why. You are certainly powerful, after all. However, as long as you refuse to mature and obsess over building yourself a fake family, you will never become truly strong."

Those words were enough to switch Rui's surprise to anger, even further accentuated now by Chihime laying upon him her true thoughts. Someone he had taken into his own home and even considered making part of his family now betraying him for the sake of status. He didn't say a word, only gritting his teeth in rage as he brought down five more strings at his foe. She simply narrowed her eyes and, with a motion of her hand, caused the flames to enclose again around her and swallowing the corridor, the threads burning up to nothing before they could even reach the ground.

Despite his attack missing, Rui would scowl and join his hands to prepare for yet another Blood Art Technique to use on Chihime, regardless of her flames or how they worked against it. He'd be interrupted before he could even properly start as his foe exploded from amidst the flames, slashing at him with her claws. The spider demon barely managed to back away from the incoming slash though, being grazed across his nose with a shallow scratch. He raised his hand to call upon more strings when Chihime narrowed her eyes and clenched her hand into a fist, flames exploding from the scratch across Rui's face with enough force to blast off most of it, including burning both of his eyes and momentarily blinding him. This, of course, was a good chance for his foe to close in while he healed and completely pummel him with a series of quick and calculated blows to any weak spot she could target. He attempted to blindly retaliate during that time but would have every effort knocked aside or dodged before Chihime resumed her pummeling. After receiving a blow to his stomach, Rui would keel over just as his vision began returning, and the first thing he would see was her foot connecting with his extended chin at high speeds, the kick sending him flying straight up, easily soaring past the treetops.

Even with all the injuries just caused upon him quickly healing, Rui was still in a great deal of pain from his several broken bones and damaged organs but would spin around midair regardless, facing down intent on slashing his threads at Chihime who, upon kicking the demon upwards, had immediately jumped off after him. In her ascension, she would manage to spin at the last moment and squeeze in between two of the descending strings to evade them while at the same time outstretching a hand so one of the strings would lop her left thumb off as it went by her. For a moment, Rui raised an eyebrow in confusion at that decision, until purple flames burst to life along the length of that very same string. Except instead of burning it down, the flames just reached out, using the string as an extension without burning it in order to reach his hand, which was thus enveloped by her fire, burning intensely hot and quickly leaving his fingers in no shape to call upon more strings.

Gritting his teeth while trying to tolerate his burning appendage, Rui spun around and use his unburnt hand to send more strings at Chihime, but this time she would rub her hands together to spread the blood of her already healing thumb on them both before igniting a short, controlled flame on her left one that quickly faded out, but created enough momentum to help her dodge the strings and fling herself at Rui's direction. The spider demon widened his eyes as he had his unburnt hand grabbed before he could even swing again with it, a knee smashing down on his chest from above before Chihime extended her other hand behind her and towards the sky, that being the one still covered in blood. She used said blood to ignite her flames in a powerful explosion above them both, using the momentum it created to send both herself and Rui rocketing towards the ground, crashings amidst her previous inferno with great force and helping it disperse.

Now lying helpless amidst a crater of his own creation, Rui grunted in pain. One of his hands had been burst into a blackened stump while the other had been crushed by her grip into a mess of flesh and bone, leaving both unable to call upon his strings. Not that it mattered, seeing as the sheer impact of the fall combined with the knee on his torso had helped in snapping his spine, preventing all movement in his body until it healed. Chihime was on top of him, looking down at him condescendingly, which made him hate her all the more, even if he could do nothing about it at this point. Without a word, she reached out for his face before lightly pinching with two fingers around his left eye. The spider demon realized a moment too late what she was doing before her claws sunk into his socket and he screamed in pain. She tugged, and sure enough, it came loose. Rui couldn't do anything but glare hatefully with what he had left as she rose to her feet and held her prize up to the moonlight, examining the ripped off eye of her enemy, its Lower Moon insignia staring right back at her.

She then lowered the eye preparing to enact the ritual that would officialize her ascent. Without a moment's hesitation, she raised it to her open mouth and, upon closing it, swallowed the eye whole. Chihime then took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting for a moment before her entire body tensed up as if suddenly receiving an electric shock. Veins bulged along her whole body and her hand tightened into a fist, her face scrunching up for a couple of seconds before the feeling was gone and her whole body relaxed, letting out a deep breath she'd been holding in before opening her eyes again, her right pupil having again shifted into the symbol for Lower Moon Four.

With the Blood Battle concluded and her victory conquered, Chihime got off the fallen Rui, turning her back to him as she walked some distance away to where she'd stabbed her katana onto the ground. The spider demon though was less than pleased by the results, and with his wounds quickly healing, he'd grunt, sitting up with his healed spine and crawling his way to the edge of the crater, seeing his fellow but now higher-ranked Lower Moon pulling her katana off the ground, glaring at her with his new eye, this one donning the familiar rank of Lower Moon Five he'd held before all of this began. Angrily, he raised his regenerated left hand, the other one taking longer to heal after it was burnt to a crisp, not that he cared much as he called upon five more strings and prepared to have them descend upon her.

Before he could even bring down his arm though, she'd almost lazily spin around and slash with her katana. Even with the distance between them, his raised hand would be lopped off before it could ever attack with the strings he'd summoned. "Blood Battles aren't meant to be a fight to the death." She told him, "but if you continue with that mindset, I might not have a choice but to put you down permanently, even against Lord Muzan's expressed wishes."

Rui grit his teeth, reigning in his anger. It was clear to him now by her words that this was why she was there from the very start, to usurp his ranking. He didn't know though why Lord Muzan would send her through this rather than just outright giving Chihime the rank in question if this was what was intended from the start, but it didn't matter. She might have somehow earned their master's favor, but it didn't mean he'd forgive her. Still, even he had to know when to stop. She had handily beaten him with her Demon Blood Art, true, but were he to fight her while wielding a sword like that, it would mean his death, "You've just made enemies out of me and my family, girl..." He told her, venom dripping in his tone, "Do not think I'll let you get away with that next time we meet."

Hearing that though, Chihime narrowed her eyes, "Your so-called family's already dead. The Demon Slayers have seen to that." She said, causing his eyes to widen in shock, "I wouldn't recommend you still try and chase them though. More of them are coming and, if I had to guess, it won't be the kind either of us can fight against." With that said, she would turn her back on him for the last time and begin walking away, sheathing her blade as she did and leaving Rui alone to process everything he had lost in that single night.

* * *

After his brief meeting with Murata, Inosuke would keep on making his way down the mountain, dragging Zenitsu along him. He didn't look back, just kept going on and on and on, even as his vision grew blurred and his ears began ringing, even as his legs grew numb and his muscles felt heavy. He would keep going until he tripped on a tree root that had gone by previously unnoticed and both him and the unconscious Zenitsu fell down. He groaned, raising a hand to place it on the ground, using it to try and push himself up through gritted teeth, but would only rise a couple of inches from the grass before his strength gave out and he collapsed. "_Dammit...gotta get up...gotta keep moving...c'mon...!_" He thought, pushing himself up again determinedly, but wouldn't even make it as far as the first time before he fell again, "_Shit...it's no use. My body isn't responding anymore. This is as far as I can go._"

With great struggle, he managed to flip himself on his back, staring up at the visible sky in between the treetop above while panting heavily, drenched in his own sweat and blood with his body at its very limit. In the conditions he was in, a normal human would have long fated. Luckily, Inosuke was anything but normal. He glanced over to where the unconscious Zenitsu was lying bleeding even more than him as his unconscious self couldn't focus on forcing his body to staunch his wounds like the blue-haired boy had done. Realizing that, he'd work past his exhaustion to crawl over to the boy, grunting as he frustratedly tried to unbutton open the top of his uniform, not exactly used to the concept of buttons. Eventually, he'd just rip it open in frustration,before doing much of the same to the boy's undershirt, tearing it apart and leaving the knocked out Zenitsu bare-chested so he could use that cloth to wrap around his maimed hand in a desperate attempt to stop all the blood, "Come on, Zenitsu…" He muttered in beneath grunts as he finished his improvised knot, "Don't die on me now…!"

Just as he was finished, however, he'd hear rustling from the bushes behind and quickly turn to look over his shoulder in alarm. If that was really Rui having finally caught up to them, then it would certainly be the end of them. He wouldn't be able to do anything to fight back what would be surely a slow and painful death. Fortunately, that was not the case, and he would be immensely relieved upon seeing Kanao alongside by a limping Genya emerge from the forestation.

Immediately, the girl would widen her eyes, and wordlessly move towards Inosuke upon seeing his terrible condition to try and heal him, but just as she kneeled down to do so, she'd be surprised when the boy instead pushed her away, "Don't come to me, focus on him!" He exclaimed, pointing at Zenitsu. "He's lost his fingers, if you don't do anything he's gonna bleed out for sure!"

Kanao blinked in surprise at that information, but upon looking at Zenitsu and noticing his condition, she'd narrow her eyes and purse her lips, "…don't worry, the finger doesn't have any major arteries or veins, even if he bleeds too much it usually stops after about half an hour. Knowing him, I imagine he immediately fainted in shock, but for now he should be fine with your improvised bandaging." She then turned to him, "You though, Inosuke…you look awful. You're bleeding all over, I'm not even sure how you're still conscious."

The wild boy frowned looking at his downed comrade for a moment before sighing in frustration, "…fine, but make it quick." He grunted, to which Kanao nodded before leaning in towards him without any resistance this time, using the supplies they were carrying to begin bandaging Inosuke up starting with the nasty wound on his thigh.

"We're lucky Kanao insisted on recovering that bag of supplies she hid away before coming down the mountain, or else we wouldn't have even bumped into the trail of blood leading to you guys" Genya noted, leaning against a nearby tree to rest his evidently weary state, "By the way, what happened to your boar head?"

Inosuke grit his teeth as he was reminded of the loss of his precious possession, "...we met a powerful demon, he diced it in half when he landed this cut on my face."

"...guess we weren't the only one running into some crazy monster. Ours was a spider-headed bag of muscles larger than a bear. Never met a demon before that could punch so hard." The scarred boy told him, "So, what kinda demon did this to you?"

"A little kid in white with a thing for strings…" He admitted with a grunt, to which Genya paused for a moment before letting out a stifled laugh, looking amused by the kind of demon they'd gotten so hurt against. Before he could make a snide remark on that fact, however, Inosuke would add, "He also had a Lower Moon mark on his eye."

That caused his demeanor to suddenly shift from amusement to surprise, "Another one?! Wait, does that mean you guys also killed a Lower Moon?"

"...well, not exactly," Inosuke admitted, "Technically, it should still be chasing us."

Genya's expression once again changed, this time from surprise to shock, pushing himself off his leaning position a bit too quickly and almost falling in the process. Regaining his balance though, he glared at Inosuke, "You idiot! Why didn't you open with that?! There might've been an enemy approaching us the entire time and you didn't even bother to tell us?!"

"Well, I thought blondie was dying!" Inosuke exclaimed angrily, "Would you prefer if I just made you two panic over that rather than helping him out?!"

Before Genya could reply though, Kanao would speak up without moving her gaze away from the bandages in Inosuke's thigh, "Don't worry, you two." She reassured them, calmly but with a conviction neither could even voice anything against, "I am still in fighting condition, so if an enemy comes, Lower Moon or not, I will immediately place myself in between him and you. Tanjiro asked me this in the first place, but even if it costs me my life, I will certainly lop its head off to assure your safety."

Neither boys were expecting such conviction from the normally monotone girl, but her words worked, as both seemed immediately reassured. After all, Inosuke could recognize the strength, and having clashed against Kanao himself in sparring, he knew she held plenty of it. "Speaking of which, what exactly happened to Tanjiro?" Genya then inquired, "Wasn't you following him, Inosuke?"

"He left me behind to chase off the other damn Lower Moon up the mountain." The blue-haired boy admitted with a frustrated grunt, "Probably long caught up with her by now."

"…I hope he's okay." Kanao admitted earnestly with a small frown, pausing momentarily in her bandage-wrapping with a small frown before shaking her head and continuing it.

"Don't worry, that wouldn't be his first Lower Moon, and I really doubt it'll be his last." Genya told them with a shrug, "I don't think any of us can argue how absurdly strong that guy is."

There was a sudden air of concession among the three of the Senses, each one knowing from their own experiences that the leader of their group was indeed undoubtedly strong. That moment, however, would be interrupted when a sound of quick footsteps was heard nearby, and the three of them all paused, looking off at the way down the mountain in alarm for a second, Kanao's hand even reaching briefly towards her katana before she relaxed. "It's fine." She told them, "Help has arrived."

A moment later, several people would emerge from the darkness, all dressed in the identical black uniforms of the Demon Slayer Corps except with the traditional headpiece that covered their head and most of their faces. All three of them recognized these from their time in the Butterfly Mansion as the Kakushi. But they were not alone either, as there were also a few Demon Slayers who would quickly rush past them, leading small separate groups of Kakushi on the way further up the mountain. A few of them stuck back, one tending to the downed Zenitsu, one offering to take over in the bandaging of Inosuke from Kanao after she'd finished up with one arm and one asking the winded Genya if he needed some help. On the back of the group though, everyone's attention would be drawn to the large figure that was quickly walking towards them. And of course they all did, as even Inosuke, who didn't know the word, if asked to describe him, would've gone with whatever his closest equivalent was to flamboyant.

The man in question easily towered over six feet, with a bulky muscular frame and lightly-tanned skin. He had thin eyes, and a wrap that covered his hair, plus a sleeveless version of the Demon Slayer Uniform. The odd part about him though was all the jewelry he donned from the large golden rings around his arms, matching with the golden bracelets on his wrist around his fingerless gloves to the headband over his forehead, adorned in gemstones both in the headband itself or into a chain that fell down along the side of his face. He also had a mark on his face looking to be makeup consisting of alternating large and small dots that ran inwards, towards his left eye. What most impressed Inosuke though were the two swords on his back, designed very differently from normal katana, with wider but shorter blades as well as a chain linking them together, "So...you're the kids Lord Kagaya sent out to clean out the mountain, huh? It doesn't really seem like it went as planned."

Inosuke was none too pleased by the way this stranger was addressing them, and grunted, turning around to be face to face with the man rather than just glancing at him, much to the chagrin of the Kakushi who was tending to his wounds, "And who the hell are you then, weirdo?!"

"Inosuke! Show more respect!" Kanao told him, "That man is the Sound Pillar, Lord Tengen Uzui!"

"And you're Shinobu's Tsuguko, right? I was told you'd be here..." The newly introduced Tengen noted, "But if we're counting heads, it seems like you're still missing someone."

"Yeah...Tanjiro's gone up the mountain chasing a demon, but he hasn't yet returned down." Genya informed the man, "We don't know what happened to him."

Kanao then looked down for a moment with a small frown before voicing up, "I'll go after him. With the Kakushi here, I don't need to stay here for healing, and Lord Tengen can protect you all from the Lower Moon demon better than I ever could. "

Neither boys protested her words, with Inosuke nodding, "Yeah, go." He said, "Make sure to bring him down in one piece."

She nodded in return, before turning to Tengen in search of the Pillar's approval, to which he shrugged, "Hey, I'm not your squad leader, you can do as you will."

Nodding again, she turned her attention up towards the mountain top before, with a deep breath, shooting off in a blur to chase after the Senses' leader. Seeing that, Inosuke would groan and push himself up so he was sitting against a tree, raising his arm to allow the Kakushi to treat it after he was done with his thigh, "So, how is it that you found us anyway?" Genya asked Tengen in the meantime.

"You shouldn't underestimate your messenger crows, kid. They are a lot smarter than they seem." He told the boy with his arms crossed, "The moment a Demon Moon was confirmed to be on the mountain, they rushed to inform us. Lord Kagaya sent for a squadron of Kakushi with a few higher-ranked Demon Slayers led by the closest Pillar. Which, as you can see, just so happened to be yours truly, in all my flamboyance." He motioned at himself exaggeratedly before turning over to Inosuke, "Though…by the looks of it, I'd guess you already had a close-up meeting with it."

"One of them." The boy affirmed, "The other one Tanjiro chased all the way up the mountain."

"So there is more than one of them here, huh…?" Tengen said curiously, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Two Demon Moons together is quite a peculiar situation. You guys really are lucky I am here."

"…yeah. So great, having a Pillar around for him to sit down and chat while his troops scout the mountain." Inosuke grunted.

"Show some respect, boy. Me being here is to your benefit too." Tengen said with a brief glare at the wild boy, "Besides, it's not like I could accompany them all, right? If any trouble comes, they'll use one of the sound bombs I gave them. My ears are pretty well trained, so it should be no trouble for me to pinpoint where the sound came from and rush up the mountains to aid them."

Genya, who had stopped for a moment of thought after what the Pillar had previously said, voice out his thoughts then, "...was the reason you were so close to the mountain because you were heading to the headquarters for the Pillar meeting?" He inquired.

Tengen raised an eyebrow as he turned his gaze over to the scarred boy, "Hm...yes, I was. Quite sharp of you to guess that. I imagine you must be Shinazugawa, right? Sanemi's brother..."

He nodded, "Yeah, that's correct."

"You do look like him." The Pillar noted somewhat amusedly, "Down to the scars, in fact."

The boy frowned slightly, and seemed to be about to say something when he was interrupted by two distant but nonetheless lou bdlasts happening in quick sequence, causing Inosuke to recall what the Pillar had said about the sound bombs, "Is that...?"

"No." Tengen narrowed his eyes, uncrossing his arms, "Two blasts in quick sequence means they found something out of the ordinary, but not something dangerous. Still, I better go and check" He crouched briefly, taking a deep breath. Even through his pants, Inosuke would notice the muscles in his legs bulging for a moment before he shot off with enough force to slightly crack the ground beneath his feet, flying well above the treetops with a single leap and being gone from their line of sight in a moment."

"...damn," Genya muttered, staring up at gap beneath the trees where the Pillar had disappeared from a moment earlier. Inosuke meanwhile only grunted and turned his head away, incidentally landing his gaze on Zenitsu, his hand now properly bandaged by the Kakushi aiding him. He was always proud of his strength, that much was undeniable, so it was hard to admit when someone was stronger than him. Not even Tanjiro had earned that from him...but Zenitsu had. The blond had dominated the offensive for so much of their fight together that Inosuke began trying to surpass him, seeing it as a challenge to his own pride whether he knew it or not at the time. He'd grown too reckless, tried to be the one to slice off the demon's head alone, and for it he paid. And so did Zenitsu, having to fight that monster alone and coming actually close to ending Rui, but ultimately losing most of his left hand because of it...because of him. If only he'd been more cautious, tried to support Zenitsu instead of taking the glory from him, things would've ended very different, and that thought scratched at him nonstop.

Then there was Murata...he had no idea what happened to Murata. Hopefully, the demon realized the reinforcements were coming and fled before they could even meet, as it seemed to be the case. If so, the Demon Slayer should be coming down the mountain himself at that very moment. That thought brought some relief that helped him ease the guilt over what happened to Zenitsu somewhat.

Anyway, things would remain silent for a while as Inosuke found himself with both his arms entirely bandaged alongside another bandage vertically wrapped across his head to cover the cut on his face. According to the Kakushi, the cuts were fairly deep and likely to leave scars, but he didn't care. He also gave him a transfusion to make up for the blood he lost, the Kakushi reassuring him by saying he was a universal donor, whatever the hell that meant. Genya eventually gave in to his tiredness and fell asleep, but stray thoughts prevented Inosuke from doing the same.

Eventually, that monotony would be broken by the sound of several footsteps accompanied by something being dragged. Inosuke looked to the side to see what it was and widened his eyes. Tengen was walking their way alongside a few Kakushi, but more surprising than that was what he was dragging behind him. A large iron net filled to the brim with what he recognized to be the same human-headed spiders he'd met and cut through earlier when fighting that spider freak before even finding the Lower Moon, crawling around and over each other while unsuccessfully trying to break out through the small holes in the net, "What are you doing with those damn things?!" He asked in disgust, "Just squash them all or something?"

Tengen blinked in surprise at that, "Squash them...?" He asked, glancing at the net, then back at Inosuke, "Do you know what these are?"

"I saw them earlier when fighting with another demon. They're like...little demons, right? " The boy guessed.

"Wrong." The Pillar said, "These are people."

This answer obviously left Inosuke confused, since as far as he understood from people, they didn't come in spider bodies, "Those can't be people...look at them," He motioned at the net, "Those things are hideous!"

"Well, I can't argue with that part, but I've seen cases such as this one before." Tengen explained, "Explaining Demon's Blood Arts is hard to put in words sometimes other than 'magic', but there are demons that can afflict humans with terrible mutations as a result of their powers. I once slew a demon who could cause mushrooms to grow on your skin to sap your strength, for example. Now, this seems more extreme, but from my own experience as a Demon Slayer, I would say this case, in particular, seems very much reversible if treated by the right hands. Which luckily, we have."

"So then...every single one of those little spider things...they can be turned back into humans...?" Inosuke inquired uneasily, realization beginning to dawn on him.

"Pretty much, yes." Tengen said, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the boy, "Unfortunately, we found many of those crushed under some rubble. Maybe if we'd been there earlier we might've been able to save those too."

Inosuke looked down with eyes wide then, recalling his earlier mindless slaughter of those things during his earlier fight. They had attacked him, sure, but he knew even back then that the big spider freak was controlling, yet he never thought of them in any way differently from the demon controlling them, so he never hesitated when swinging his blade to cut them, "_...no way...those were all people...just normal people, transformed into that..._"

Before that thought could even fully set in, he'd be taken out of his daze by a Kakushi rushing down the mountain, "Lord Tengen, we've found something!" He screamed at the Pillar, earning the man's attention.

"What is it?" He inquired, turning his attention to the much shorter figure.

The Kakushi, in turn, produced something from his pouch and raised it to show to the Pillar. It was a nichirin katana, its guard round and its blue blade broken in half. Most noteworthy of all though, the weapon was dirtied in blood. The odd thing that caught Inosuke's attention though was that, though he couldn't really tell from where he actually recognized it, and the thought of it unnerved him enough for him to momentarily forget the spiders or Zenitsu as he focused on the sword

"...I see." Tengen noted, narrowing his eyes somewhat mournfully, "Did you find its owner?"

"We've buried what remained of him, but it was rather...messy." The kakushi noted, shivering a bit at what he saw, "Whoever he was, it was not a peaceful ending."

After staring at the blade for another moment and realizing it couldn't be any of the Senses' nor did it look like Tanjiro's, it clicked on him, "_I ran away on my own comrades. The least I can do now is redeem myself and protect you guys._"

"...Murata..." Inosuke muttered barely audibly, eyes widened. Zenitsu, the spiders, then Murata. The pride, the mistakes, the guilt. It all fell down on his shoulders in a single quiet moment, and he found himself turning his head to stare down dead-eyed at the ground in complete and total silence.

* * *

On the opposite end of the mountain, Chihime was walking by herself through the forested area making her way down to its base as to finally leave Natagumo. Her time in the place had been a testing one, but this last night, in particular, was beyond what she could've expected. It was painful to tolerate Rui and his so-called family, though from the start it was clear that a more accurate descriptor would be his hostages. She managed though to find some odd silent comradery with the so-called sister of the family until the Demon Slayers took her out, and so in return, she took out some Demon Slayers. It was only fair after all.

Then there was the boy in red. From their first meeting and their subsequent clash she had recognized him as the one Lord Muzan had spoken to his Lower Moons about, and that he was indeed strong. There was an immediate draw to him, something she, at first, thought was because she wanted to test her strength against him. After all, this was what Demon Slayers were to her. Tools of which she could use to test her strength. It was easy to slaughter, but taking down each Demon Slayer of a group without killing them wasn't just for the so-called Mother's sake, but to prove her own worth. Having to use her Blood Demon Art to take out the Kusarigama wielding man though still left her somewhat bitter. Maybe that's why she had made sure none of them could free themselves and rebel by leaving behind some of her blood through a small scratch on each of their necks, which she, in turn, later triggered when the other Slayers arrived to save them

Still, she knew the boy was unlike that. If she were to swing her blade at him, she would have to swing with the intent to kill, or else she would risk being killed herself. And even then, when the time came and their clash atop the mountain happened, he would push her beyond what she ever thought he could. His Breath Techniques were powerful, and facing up to them had cost her a hand and nearly her life, again forcing her to use her Blood Demon Art just to escape his advances. But even then he kept pushing her back, trying to create another opportunity to claim her neck, one she knew he wouldn't waste. Thus he had forced her own hand, and she proceeded to show him her Dance of the Blood Moon. Her self-created Breath Style was one meant to bring down a Pillar, the real opponents she'd been molded and trained to face off against. Even with it though, he would prove himself capable, and should the fight have proceeded further she might've even had to combine her swordsmanship with her Blood Demon Art and finally go all out.

However, instead of that, something odd had happened. He broke her mask, the very same she donned with the sole purpose of spiting Rui, and the look of shock and disbelief in him upon seeing her face was unforgettable. Then, he would call out upon a name unknown to her...Nezuko. Hearing that, she realized what had drawn her to the boy was not his strength or desire to be challenged, but something else entirely. In that brief moment, she'd seen glimpses of a life she'd never lived. A snowy mountain, human children running around, an emaciated man and a kind-looking woman and, most curious of all, the very same boy in red, except looking completely different as he instead donned a checkered haori and a kind smile on his face. They seemed like images of a dream she had forgotten, so familiar yet without a single solid memory to tie them to. Chihime couldn't help but wonder if this was her life before she had been given a second chance by Lord Muzan and became a demon. The boy, he knew her from back then, and at that moment she could not bring herself to finish him off. Instead, she ended their fight early, turning her back on the boy and leaving him behind with a thousand stray thoughts swimming through her mind.

Luckily, she could tell she wasn't being watched. She knew Lord Muzan would often peer through her eyes to check on her situation if he so wished to do so, as he did with any other demon, but unlike others she could feel it happening. Even though she was never told as much, Chihime knew her link with Lord Muzan was different from Lord Muzan's link with other demons. Through it he could kill any demon he so wished with as much as a glance, Lower Moon One has served as the perfect example. She wasn't fully sure the same thing could be done to her, however, seeing as in her case, for reasons unknown even to her, it seemed to be a far less one-sided link. Up until that moment, she never had any reason to fear the existence of that link, but she had just spared an enemy's life, one she had been specifically told to destroy. It was likely Muzan would go through her battle by accessing her memories sometime in the near future. She would have to try and conceal the fight's ending though, justify her abandoning it by saying the boy could hold off against her and that she was forced to flee by the approaching Demon Slayer reinforcements.

These sounded like thoughts of rebellion, but she knew where her allegiances lied. Lord Muzan had given her a second chance at life and she could never fully repay her debt to him over it, but everything that came before that was stripped of her in the process. Demons were not supposed to remember their previous lives upon rebirth with only some rare exceptions due to the possibility of them becoming more humanlike because of it. Chihime, however, couldn't help but be drawn towards it and consequently, towards the boy who seemed to recognize her. Nezuko, he had called her. A name so alien and so familiar at the same time. Next time they met she would ask him about it, before rectifying her earlier mistake and killing him anyway. After all, for as curious as she might be about who she was before, she knew for a fact that person was no longer. Perhaps knowing her origins though would help her make more sense of who she was now.

Eventually, after a great deal of walking, she reached the base of the mountain, exiting the forestation and into a wide field, a tall figure already waiting for her as expected. With his usual purple and black kimono and the sword sheathed on his waist, Kokushibo narrowed all six of his eyes upon taking note of his apprentice and the changed symbol in her eye, "I see you were successful in your endeavors...did things go as planned with your fellow Lower Moon?"

"For the most part," She responded, glancing back at the mountain behind her, "Just as Lord Muzan wished, I gave him plenty of motivation to grow past our encounter. From now on though, the way he develops is entirely out of my hands..."

"It should be enough," The Upper Moon assured her, "Now, we should get going. There are still others awaiting your challenge, my apprentice."

"Yes," Chihime affirmed, turning her gaze back forward and walking past her silently observing master, "Lower Moon Four is done...that leaves three to go."

**A/N: With that packed chapter, we wrap up the Natagumo Mountain Arc, and I think most of you probably get it by now when I said some six chapters ago that this arc was important for this story. Lot of stuff happens with our main characters this arc which will determine the way they develop in the future. Before we dive into it though, I wanna give a shoutout to the reader known as Augustus813 who created a Tv Tropes page for this story. I tried contacting him to thank him personally but still received no response. Still, if he reads this story, I imagine he'll bump into this eventually and see it himself, so yeah.**

**Anyway, let's start with the elephant in the room which the first two POVs on this chapter focus on Murata and his sacrifice. If it seemed a bit cold-blooded of me to off him like that…well, you're in for a ride. As for the why…well, I once mentioned DownwardDive wanted me to make him a main character. The reason I told him no then was because, writing a story like this, I already have to balance the development of thirteen other Demon Slayers in between the Senses and the Pillars, the majority of which can only ever get a good fight if matched up against one of the six Upper Moons. That said, balancing all of those is hard, so adding even one more would throw the whole thing off. Rather than making him a super badass though, I could keep Murata on the sidelines and have him just be there as the Canon story did. That though means he's just there. I get more weight and meaning out of his character if I have him make a meaningful last stand though. Thus, I decided to use him to push Inosuke's character. And out of all things I used to push Inosuke's character on this arc and had him experience in this chapter, Murata is probably the most important. **

**Excuse my slight tangent for a moment, but the thing about developing Zenitsu and Inosuke in a different way from Canon is that they are completely opposite cases. Inosuke has such a strong personality that deviating him from his canon path requires a lot of motivation, and thus we pile up reasons for him to deviate from that path. Then there's Zenitsu, who has a path to glory from the start. He's always been strong, all he needs to do is to realize that and master his own potential. All he needs is a push, which is why he immediately overcomes his flaws in canon when the push in question comes in the form of his dying master and Kaigaku's turn. To make that more interesting though, I added obstacles to his path, like his lost fingers. He'll eventually reach that point, but there'll be more for him to overcome here to get there.**

**Moving on, we've got Chihime's Blood Battle. Blood Battles are a concept only once mentioned in the actual story, by Douma when the three first Upper Moons are having a confrontation during their meeting with Muzan. Akaza pretty much promises to challenge Douma and Kokushibo, but that's the last time they ever meet and they all die before something can come off it. Here though, I reworked that to fit into the story after reader ****Cieszesi Niezmiernie**** mentioned it in one of his reviews and it provided an interesting concept which fit in pretty much perfectly with the story and where I wanna go with it. This will all have consequences that are brought about in a later arc but, like always, we'll get there when we get there. Also, during Chihime's Blood Battle with Rui, I used a facet of her abilities I only ever hinted at but never properly introduced before. Just like Muzan and his tentacles blades, Chihime can user her claws to inject a bit of her blood into her opponent through a cut, which combined with her ability to ignite said blood results in barbecued Demon Slayers, exactly what happened with the puppetered group fighting the Senses at the beginning of the arc.**

**What else…oh, at one point during Inosuke's healing I pointed out the Kakushi gave him a blood transfusion. I don't know if blood transfusions were a thing in early 1900s Japan. I didn't even look it up, because if you can overlook human-headed-spiders being healed back to normal humans with only some mutations, then you can overlook this. Oh, on that topic, there's also the Pillar who debuts in this chapter. In the original Natagumo arc the Pillars who appear are Giyu and Shinobu, but this time a lot of stuff is different and those both have already been effectively introduced at this point, so I instead opted to use the chance to debut someone I hadn't used before , namely the ever flamboyant Tengen Uzui. Now, him being here, as inconsequential as it might seem, is not without a very good reason, as his relevance in this story will become clearer in the coming chapters.**

**Another cool thing here is that, for the first time since the first chapter in this story, I get to write a POV on Nezuko again. Or, rather, Chihime this time. Either way, through it I got to cover the previous events on the arc from her perspective somewhat and hopefully you guys liked what you got from her character after a close look at her thoughts. She is still as loyal to Muzan as any brainwashed servant on her condition can be expected to be, but feels somewhat incomplete and is aware of her own uniqueness among demons, in a way. Nezuko was always a special demon in canon, being able to survive through nothing but sleeping rather than feeding and whatnot. Its a curious idea to explore, what would've become of her development if she acted just like a normal demon rather than the exception to the rule.**

**And lastly, to close things off, this week we got the Final Chapter in Kimetsu no Yaiba series and…well, for all the times I called this a tragedy, that was as happy an ending as you can probably get. Honestly though, I would have rather seen what becomes of the surviving characters in the near future rather than their reincarnations generations later. Kinda weird seeing as Tanjiro and Kanao and Zenitsu and Nezuko both obviously got together in the end but we never got to see anything about it. Gotouge also seemed to wimp out on the whole Mark thing. Since we got no explanation whatsoever, its not far off to assume Sanemi, Giyu and Tanjiro all died at age 25, unless they were all exceptions like Yoriichi…which is unlikely. Regardless, its still a good ending…but its nothing like the ending I had in mind, nor the ending I will eventually be writing for this story.**

**Usual thanks goes to DownwardDive…even though he probably is pretty miffed I offed his second favorite character this chapter. Sorry, bud.**

**Now, onto the reviews. And oh, boy…there were many of those this time. **

_HamburgerLife: Bruh things just got gOoD_

_Absolutely love that Nezuko just left Tanjiro to have mental trauma because memories hit her HARD_

_Great chapter as always, excited to see if the loner and really scary butterfly will appear_

**I guess they did.**

**Yeah, Tanjiro got hit pretty hard emotionally last chapter. I was too busy wrapping up everything to move on from the arc this chapter, but next one you can be sure we'll be getting to him.**

**And sorry to disappoint, but at least instead of those you get a flamboyant ninja. **

_lordpurgatory23: nice._

_**Thx**_

_PopeEyes: Poor Tanjirou, his world got flipped upside down again. Of course Tanjirou breaks the mask by head butting it lol._

**That it did. And yeah, I kinda had to use Tanjiro's headbutt in a real meaningful way at least once in this story. **

_DEMONEZUKO: To be honest, while I was reading this chapter all I could think about is, Tanjirou is going to break Chihime's mask and BAMM! cliffhanger. Thank you for not being evil._

**Nah, it wouldn't be good writing to reward a cliffhanger like that with such a short interaction like the one that followed the reveal.**

_thestormwriter123: The expected fight really lived up to its hype. Good job with that. However, I was of the opinion that only tanjiro knew his father's dance of the sun god... did he teach it to nezuko too? Am I missing something here?_

**No, he didn't, but I imagine the memory of her father dancing each new year's is something pretty powerful, enough that it would stick to her subconscious past her demon transformation and manifest in some way when she learned her breathing techniques. I'd compare it to Tanjiro learning the thirteenth form of the Breath of the Sun by simply watching Yoriichi execute it and mimicking it to an insanely effective extent against Muzan.**

_TYBW Toshiro: Finally :D_  
_missed ur story :)_

**Thanks, here's another chapter for you.**

_Zhenga11: __Great chapter, looking forward to more._

_I have to say, one of the first things I noticed this chapter is that you've gotten rid of almost all of the weird future conditional tense you wrote your previous fight scenes in, and the fights read so much better. Also, I'm a little disappointed Chihime didn't show a larger reaction, but this story would be worse if she suddenly remembered Tanjirou and joined him because that just prematurely resolves the main conflict of this story._

**Well, yeah. It came to my attention that I had a tense problem in my writing so I did my best to correct it as of the previous chapter. I eventually plan on going back and editing the whole thing to rid myself of that writing sin, but that's gonna take some time. **

**As for Chihime, I hope her POV this chapter satisfied you to at least some extent and helped in understanding her character better. **

_clone59yahoo com Nice Chapter! Keep up the good work!_

**Will do.**

_gogo bananas: ayy good chappy_

**Ayy, thanks.**

_Anonymous: __Seeing Nezuko turn into the enemy side and Tanjirou beating himself up for days is heart-wrenching. I'm still very excited to read through all of this! _  
_Great job author!_

**I'm glad you take joy in Tanjiro's suffering. I'll be sure to provide more of it for your amusement. **

_Guest _

_Nooooooo This is going to tear Tanjiro appart and make him at odds with everyone else. Not to mention now that Nezuko killed humans his whole reason for fighting demons is in question. Plus he said that any demon who kills cant be redeamed. Finally this is my favorite demon slayer fanfic by far keep up the good work!_

**Yeah, his entire demon-slaying philosophy just kinda crumbled onto itself. Picking back up from that is gonna be hard, but we'll get back to Tanjiro next chapter, so be sure to check it once its released.**

_bon: __One of the 3 or 4 demon slayer fanfics worth reading. Is their going to be any Nezukoxtaniro?_

**If you mean in the romantic sense...no. Sorry, but I ain't opening that incestuous can of worms. **

**Still, you're the second one who asks me that after last chapter. Made me go back and read through the chapter to see if I'd unwittingly had the siblings portrayed in a way I skim intend to during their fight. **

_Wolvmbm: __What an engaging battle between Siblings as it seems that Nezuko still has some of her human qualities still within her as she recognized Tanjiro when her mask dropped._

_Now I wonder if there will be a slight side tale showing where Nezuko has been since the separation of the siblings ? _

_Also I wonder what will happen when Zenitsu meets Nezuko for the first time ? _

_I mean I am just getting used to the overall series and its characters and I do wonder if some things from the manga will exist in this alternate universe tale of yours ? _

_Keep up the good work upon this engaging tale._

**I do plan on covering some of the time Nezuko spent training under Kokushibo eventually, just as I plan to go more in-depth about Tanjiro's training with Yoriichi. The only thing about it is finding the right time to fit those in, which I'm pretty sure I got down with the latter, but not yet with the former.**

**As for Zenitsu...well, I know they're meant to be a thing, but this story goes a very different way from canon, so don't keep your hopes up. **

**If possible, I'll try to keep every single element of the manga while adding my own stuff to it. That's kinda impossible though since it won't always fit in as nicely as I wish it did. I dropped a bunch of small stuff already when I didn't need it and probably will do it even more in the future. **

_lordpurgatory23: __a piece of advice, dont make the fight scenes TOO detalied butvdont skim overbthem too, there are too many fanfics where the fighting is trash and a couple where the author puts in so much time on the fight scene even though because its soo detailed we just skim through it_

_also make paragraphs a little more spaced out so the hyper human brain can take a little at a time instaed of seeing a huge paragraph and just giving u_

**Yeah, thanks for the advice, but there are things I don't bend on. Paragraph size is something I might have to look into, you're right, but I'm not skimping out on the fights. Yes, they are long as hell, but the series is called Demon Slayer, so if I don't put proper focus on the actual slaying of demons, what even is the point?**

_lisaiurrea: Finally catched up after 2 days reading. So to start off, amazing fanfic, loving every single part about it, just because this is a 'what if?' Kind of scenario._

_Right now the story gives me the very same vibe the original story gives me, in the way that I am left with wanting to know what happens next and that I can barely predict what is to come. I wonder if you will go down the route with Nezuko staying as an antagonist, her becoming good, or hell even explore demon Tanji deeper at some point which the manga barely did. That is what its so fun about this, just can't wait to see what you got in store for us._

_The manga is already coming to an end, a great ride I will not forget for such an amazing story. So I am just left wondering too, what will you do for your ending when it eventually comes? If I am left to guess it will differ to the actual ending of the original story, and I imagine there is a lot of tragedy and tears to come, afterall its KnY._

_If there is anything I expect, is the character development and relationships with each other. This arc will definitely mark a big development for the senses, except probably Kanao, who had the least involvement. Zen and Inosuke got beaten up badly by LM 4 and they will have to get over that. And then we have Tanji who found out his sister is actually alive, but an enemy, I am very interested on what he will do about that, will he try to bring her back? Do as he said and actively hunt her as another demon? Probably not the latter seeing he still retains some kindness in him, although you never know, things happen. I am glad romance is being slow burn in this story, as I love the pairing of TanKana a lot and I am in to see how ZenAoi goes, so I do wonder how the couples will develop through all this crap happening._

_So in conclusion I love this story and hope to see more, amazing content to read after the manga ends. And well things are funner when we do not know what will happen. Keep it up!_

**Geez, what a long-ass review...I love it. **

**I'm really glad to hear you say that. About how it compares to the origianl story, I mean. For me an ideally written what-if AU is something you could logically believe could've happened in the actual story if things had gone just slightly different, which is obviously what I'm trying to recapture here, even if doing that while putting my own style on it is very hard. You're right in that, just like I said in the Author's Note, my ending will differ greatly from what we got in canon. Obviously its all building up to Muzan, but how we get there, what happens there and what happens after are definitely gonna be way different. At this point, repeating Canon is basically a sin for me, and probably a bore for your guys. **

**That said, making it a believable AU is gonna get harder the more I change the character from their original selves, which I clearly am doing. Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke are all gonna have to recover from the different ways this arc affected them next chapter. Genya got some character progression, but no development. He'll have some stuff on his own to overcome seeing as he's gonna be meeting his brother soon. And Kanao...I can't deny, out of all the Senses in this arc, Kanao was the least focused on. She got her moment against the Spider Father, but nothing that deeply affected her character. She'll get a moment though in the coming chapters that will be crucial to the way she progresses from here, I'll leave you to see that. I'm happy you liked the slow-burn too, I really enjoy writting the romantic part of this story since its such a good way to break the constant fighting and tension going on. I know I'm gonna get a chance to write more of it pretty soon too.**

**Anyway, thanks for the very long review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.**

**So, that's it for today. Next chapter we'll cover the consequences of this arc. If you're reading this far you're probably favorited and followed already, but don't forget to leave a sweet, sweet review so I can reply to you next chapter. As usual, Sky signing out.**


	23. Nursing Wounds

Three days had passed since the incident at Natagumo and its events were still very fresh on everyone's minds. Aoi Kanzaki could easily attest to that. Just as they had left the previous day, all members of the recently dubbed 'Five Senses' had returned to the Butterfly Mansion the next morning accompanied by a troop of Kakushi, some Demon Slayers and even a Pillar in the form of Tengen Uzui. Kanao was virtually unharmed and Genya was already recovering from the wear on his body by then, but the other three boys seemed to have been very much so affected by their recent mission.

Zenitsu, though his state easily the most understandable of the three, was still suffering. The realization of his three missing fingers had hit him hard once he woke up, leading to panic and disbelief throughout the first day, but after that, he seemed to have fallen into a quiet depression. He rarely left his bed and spent a lot of time staring at his maimed hand, said routine only ever being interrupted when he went to the bathroom or ate. She had tried talking to him before, but it had barely gotten her anywhere. His responses, if they even came, were short and distracted, only ever speaking a couple of words at a time. The biggest piece of information she had gotten out of him was that he wasn't sure if he was gonna continue on as a Demon Slayer after this. Being a trained medic, Aoi knew that receiving maiming wounds on the line of battle usually resulted in lifetime compensation to the Slayer directly paid by the Ubuyashiki estate, but with him only losing three fingers, it didn't leave him fully unable to fight and thus didn't qualify, meaning regardless of his decision, Zenitsu would receive no compensation for his loss. She'd even tried to act flirty with him as he'd done so often to her, but even that hadn't gotten any reaction out of him. It surprised Aoi, how badly this made her feel. Once he stopped swooning at her at every turn and began talking to her like a normal person, the upbeat idiot had actually really begun growing on her. It made her very sad, seeing Zenitsu in his current situation.

Inosuke seemed to have the opposite problem. He too had a moment of depression, but as soon as that was over he would begin training nonstop, doing pushups, situps, running around the mansion grounds, whatever it was, he was doing it with hellish determination. Aoi had tried getting him to slow down his overtraining as it was clearly doing more harm than good to his recovery. Even without his boar mask though, he was still very thickheaded, seeing as her pleas for him to slow down had gone to deaf ears and he seemed to just push himself harder as time went on. Unlike Zenitsu, it wasn't quite as clear what really was wrong with Inosuke. Of course, she noticed the loss of his characteristic boar head, but it seemed to go beyond that. She'd heard his mutterings in between gritted teeth while he trained, things like 'you're pathetic' or 'gotta make it right'. Aoi, of course, couldn't guess from that alone what had happened to him, but it was very clear Inosuke blamed himself for something. The fact that he never sat to eat alongside Zenitsu, instead always waiting until the blond finished to stuff his face and immediately go back to training, told her he felt responsible for the boy's condition and was ashamed to face him. It made sense since they both had reported fighting together against a Lower Moon, the fight where Zenitsu's fingers were lost. Still, something told her his own grief went even beyond that but even approaching him to ask why felt like a pointless endeavor.

Tanjiro though was probably the worst of the three. At first glance, it was probably hard to tell, as unlike the other two he could keep up a conversation and put up a smile if need be. He would seem perfectly fine until you asked him if he was okay, and the one time Aoi had done so she clearly remembered his smile faltering for a second, a crack in an otherwise perfectly convincing mask, "_I'm fine,_" Is what he had told her, "_I just need to figure out some stuff._" She had no idea whatsoever in what could be weighing him down so much and he absolutely refused to open up. Usually, she would have shrugged this off and focused on helping the two other boys since their problems were far more prominent. That is, if not for the fact that ever since returning to the Butterfly Estate, she hadn't seen Tanjiro eating nor sleeping even once. He refused to join in either Inosuke or Zenitsu for their meals claiming he 'wasn't hungry', and at night Aoi would just see him sat in his room with his back turned to the door and his sheathed sword behind him, staring off into the courtyard through the open door leading out to it, only to find him in the exact same position upon waking up in the following morning. She had also heard he was the only one from the Senses that had yet to give their mission report, something even Inosuke and Zenitsu had done. She knew Tanjiro had always been almost synonymous with to the strength and dedication he showcased to all of them, even to Kanao who was a prodigy on her own right, but something had very clearly affected him deeply, and he was doing nothing but pushing it down deeper while daily going about the mansion aimlessly or just sitting and staring off into nothing without ever truly being there.

The worst part was not being able to help any of them. Aoi was an apprentice to a Pillar just as much as Kanao, except instead of sword fighting and breath techniques Shinobu had instead taught her the medic's way. She could deal with most wounds, but not those of the mental kind. She intended to ask her mentor about it, but she had left for the Ubuyashiki Mansion to work in finding a cure for the mutated humans found in Natagumo Mountain just after a Messenger Crow had arrived informing them that the Pillar Meeting traditionally hosted on the first day of every even month would be rescheduled and had not been back since. The meeting was supposed to happen that very day, but for unknown reasons, Kagaya Ubuyashiki had decided to delay it by a week without much of an explanation, not something that happened very often from her experience. She also hoped Kanao or Genya might try and talk to them, but when she mentioned it to the former, she seemed almost nervous at the prospect, not something Aoi saw often, but she promised to try. On the other hand, Genya seemed to have his own problems, left anxious upon hearing the news of the Pillar Meeting being delayed. She'd tried to talk to the scarred boy too, but it was hard being communicative with him, in particular when heseemed to malfunction whenever they interacted, getting all flustered and babbly, leading to her eventually giving up.

Of course, being constantly around those three had taken quite a weight on Aoi as well, so much so she couldn't help but think about all that as she was hanging the laundry to dry outside the mansion. It was hard, having all that in her mind while knowing there wasn't much she could do about it. All she could do was let out a sigh, hoping someone else would be there to help the three boys.

* * *

Not too far away, Inosuke was currently in the courtyard on the opposite side of the house, doing upside-down situps while hooking his legs around the branch of a tree. His teeth were grit together and sweat was pouring down his forehead, every muscle on his body aching from keeping this up ever since before the sun even rose, but he gave it no mind. He had to keep going, because if he was not training, then the thoughts would return. Thoughts about his own failures, thoughts about what he could've and should've done differently back in the mountain. He ran through the same scenario of their fight against Lower Moon Four several times in his head the last two days, how he should've swallowed his pride and let Zenitsu take the lead, help him cut through the strings and use their combined strengths to end the demon just like how they'd use their combined strengths to cut through its threads. If only that was the case, Zenitsu wouldn't have lost his fingers, and Murata wouldn't have died for them.

But even then, he knew his mistakes went further back. Those spiders he slaughtered, not knowing they were actually humans. At first, he tried to convince him that he had no fault, any Demon Slayer could've made the same mistake...but that was not the case. He'd been face to face with one of those before facing the big spider freak, and he knew its immediate reaction to him was to run away. Going over that moment now with the knowledge that it was just a scared person trapped in that awful body, it made him nauseous. Inosuke was never bloodthirsty, he didn't like killing. What he liked was the thrill of a good fight, but those things were defenseless, controlled by a demon to fight against him. It would be no different than murdering those Demon Slayers being puppeteered by the first demon. Except he was hotblooded, and in the middle of the fight, and those spiders attacked him, and he just didn't think!

Those thoughts got to him though, breaking his concentration and causing his thigh injury to suddenly flare up in pain mid-situp, which in turn caused him to lose his balance, unhooking his legs from the tree and crashing down on the ground. Inosuke grunted, closing his eyes as he suddenly felt the pain in his body, seeming almost comparable to when he was carrying Zenitsu down the mountain still wounded from their fight with Rui. Training himself was the only way he could ever hope to take his mind off the consequences of his actions and his regret over them, but it was clear by now that it wasn't much of a sure-fire method either. Still, other than that, he only ever gave himself time to eat, sleep, and use the bathroom. Other than those, it was training all the time, and if he remained too stagnant the thoughts would inevitably come back to torment him. Maybe because when he was training he felt like he was getting stronger, maybe closer to a point where he was strong enough to where he could've made a difference back then. Even he knew deep down though that this was a pointless effort to make himself feel better.

He took a deep breath, giving his crying body a brief moment of relief before he rose again to continue his neverending training, only for something suddenly blocked out the sun from his face. Inosuke would open his eyes in slight confusion and be met with a towering figure staring down at him, staring down at him flamboyantly with both hands on his hips. He immediately recognized the figure from back in Natagumo Mountain, "...you're the Sound Pillar." He recognized, "What are you doing here?"

"Very perceptive there, boy." Tengen Uzui sarcastically commended him, "But to answer your question, seeing as the Pillars' Meeting was delayed and I had some time to kill, I came in to check on how your team was doing after that last mission."

"We're fine." He lied with a grunt as he sat up, not feeling like sharing his personal problems with this weird guy he'd just met days ago. "You should just go annoy someone else."

"That so?" The Pillar murmured, raising an eyebrow, "Cause you really don't look very fine to me."

Grunting, Inosuke turned to glare at the man, "The hell are you talking about?"

"Well, for one, your arms are bleeding." He noted, pointing at the arms in question with a finger and causing the boy to look down and noticed the bandages in his forearm being dirtied in blood, causing him to curse.

"Damn it, not again!" He grunted, frustrated at having to replace those bandages for the umpteenth time.

"Secondly, someone who is 'fine' probably wouldn't train themselves until they're bleeding like that, let alone several times, let alone in the kind of state you're in." Tengen pointed out, walking around the sitting boy and bending down to look at him in the eye while face to face, "So, why don't we cut the bullshit here and you spew what went down in that mountain?"

Unexpectedly enough though, rather than spewing his guts to the Pillar, he instead matched his gaze with a fixed glare and proceeded to shove his head away by pushing him up by the chin, "Well, I don't need to tell you shit, old man." He responded, managing to rise back to his feet while ignoring all the pain, "So why don't you go look for someone else to hand them some of your half-assed advice?"

"...I'm not old, I'm only twenty-three..." Tengen grunted out, to which the boy seemed to care little about as he began walking away without any response. Seeing that though. the Sound Pillar sighed, and spoke up again, "Fine, fine...I'll admit it, I haven't been fully honest with you."

This statement caught Inosuke's attention, causing him to pause and turn back to look at the man, "What do you mean by that?"

"I told you I came here to check on your team, but that's not really true." He admitted, walking towards the wild boy, "What I really came here to do though was to talk to you, Inosuke."

Inosuke blinked in confusion, his head tilting to the side, "The hell do you even have to talk to me about anyway?"

"Well, you and I are quite alike you see? So much so I couldn't help but notice it back at the mountain..." Tengen told him, narrowing his eyes, "you had guilt and regret written all over your face. Those are dangerous emotions...the kind that burrows itself deep into your mind and, if left unchecked, can completely take over you."

Those words were enough to give Inosuke pause, at least after getting over his momentary surprise at hearing the man so accurately describe his condition with words in a way better than he could. It made him second guess his earlier decision to just easily shake Tengen off as if he didn't know what he was talking about. If this guy could really help him, then he shouldn't be prideful and refuse it. Hell, his pride was a big reason why it all had happened the way it did in the first place, so until he could learn to deal with it better, all he could do was swallow said pride, which he did with a sigh before finally saying, "...fine, I'll hear you out."

"Good." Tengen said, walking past him and towards the Butterfly Mansion's entrance, "C'mon, let's go for a walk. I know you might want some privacy for the talk we're about to have."

Despite hesitating for another moment as he looked down at his bloodied arms, Inosuke regardless would follow after the man, deciding to deal with the bandages later. The two of them would make their way outside the butterfly estate and, from there on, they would walk across the surrounding forested area for a while until they were a fair distance away from the mansion, where no one else could bother them. Then, and only then, did Inosuke speak up again, "So what is it exactly that you wanted to tell me here?"

"...I'm not very good with beating around the bush, to be honest. Plus, it doesn't seem to work that well on you either, so let's go straight to the point" Tengen admitted, stopping by a tree at the side of the road where he leaned his back on while crossing his arms, turning an observant gaze towards the boy, watching closely for his reaction to what came next "You were the one that killed those spiders, weren't you?"

Even the warning of being direct beforehand, Inosuke wasn't expecting the man to ask such an accusatory question right off the bet, so his expression probably betrayed his surprise for a second. He looked down at the ground with his lips pursed, averting his gaze from the Pillar's, "...yeah, that was me." He admitted shamefully.

"Of course, I knew as much. I had access to all your mission reports, and matching your fight with the first demon you met with the ruined battlefield we found wasn't all that hard. Plus that look on your face when I first mentioned those were actually humans was enough to raise some eyebrows." The Pillar admitted and, before Inosuke could even ask what was the purpose of making a question he knew the answer to, he would add, "Of course, I had to know if you're being honest to me at least. Good to know you got some sense on you though. "

"Fine, you got me." He admitted bitterly, annoyed at the man's know-all attitude. He'd come there for advice, not to be told what he had already done.

"...hm, so much for being honest, no?" He inquired then with an accusing stare, "I saw you there, training your ass off. That doesn't seem like a logical response to that kind of incident. No...rather, I imagine there's something else also perturbing you here. I heard your friend was maimed during your fight together against Lower Moon Four, didn't he? Am I correct in guessing that's something you blame yourself for?"

"...yeah, yeah you are." Inosuke grunted, crossing his arms as he grew even more frustrated, "Are you just gonna make a list of everything I've ever done wrong or be helpful for once?"

"I need to understand what you're going through if I am to help you, Inosuke. I'm just making sure we got all the facts right." Tengen told him with a shrug, "But still...something still doesn't quite fit. I feel like I'm missing a piece of the puzzle here...care to enlighten me, now?" He inquired, glancing over at Inosuke curiously.

The wild boy met his gaze with a brief glare, but quickly averted it again, staring down at the ground silently trying to decide whether to tell the man or not about what ailed him so badly. More so than the spiders or Zenitsu, he had let someone else fight for him, die for him while knowing from the start he never stood a chance. He might've reasoned to himself at the time that he could do it just to save his own skin and not feel guilty about it, to continue dragging the wounded Zenitsu down the mountain. He hadn't even properly tried to convince Murata to go with them. After all, if he did, all three would've died. Deep down he'd known that from the start, but he was too busy then fighting to keep himself alive to even notice. Seeing the mix of expressions crossing his face though, Tengen would speak out, "Take your time there. After all, this can't be easy for you. Whenever you wanna talk, I'll be here, waiting."

After another moment though, Inosuke looked back at him remorsefully and shook his head, knowing he'd have to spew this out sooner or later. Might as well do it now. He took a deep breath before finally beginning to speak, "...you read our reports, so you probably know about the Demon Slayer we met when we got to the mountain. His name was Murata. He was part of the group that had gone there before us to investigate the place, and all his teammates were captured with the exception of him. We had to save the sorry bastard from one of the demons, so from the first time I saw him, I knew he was weak. And I told him that much. 'We don't need any advice from the kind of trash that would run on your own team.' Let alone their help...I thought so, anyway. We left him at the base of the mountain to heal and went up ourselves, but things ended up going south and, in the end, I ended up carrying a knocked out Zenitsu down the mountain while running from the Lower Moon demon we'd fought together. We met Murata again then, and he saw how bad we looked...so he offered to stay and hold it off. I tried to convince him how bad of an idea that was, but not nearly for long enough. In the end, I left him behind so I could escape and make it down the mountain. For a while, I thought he might've survived, but the Kakushi ended up finding his broken sword next to what remained of his body...that demon completely slaughtered him, and it's all because I was too cowardly to stay and help."

Tengen heard it all, showing no reaction to the boy's retelling of the events in Natagumo except an attentive silence. Once he was finally finished, the man only nodded before voicing his thoughts, "Mission report didn't mention that...but I guess that means I was right. We really are quite alike, you and I." This caused Inosuke to blink, looking at him questioningly, knowing it was the Pillar's turn to explain himself, which he did, "I'm a Demon Slayer nowadays, as flamboyant as a Demon Slayer comes, in fact." He stated while posing dramatically, further confusing the boy who didn't even really know what that word meant, "But before that...I used to be a ninja."

Inosuke raised an eyebrow, "A...ninja?"

"Ninja are basically mercenaries who are usually hired for espionage and assassination in the olden days. I come from a ninja clan, which my father was the Head of. I spent most of my childhood training and, as soon as I turned eight, they began sending me out on missions," Tengen looked at the boy intensely, "Do you realize what that means? Everything you blame yourself for doing, I did worse. You've killed a few mutated humans by mistake, yet I assassinated several men based solely on my orders. You've caused your comrade to lose some fingers and left a fellow Demon Slayer behind to die, yet I left my own little brother behind to be tortured and killed so I could get information back to the clan."

This, of course, shocked Inosuke. It seemed like such a dark confession for him to make so straightfaced, but he still never questioned the truth in the man's words. He could see from the direness behind his tone that the Pillar really meant it, "Why would you do something like that...?" He asked hesitantly.

"It's the ninja way. When you're in a mission, nothing but the objective should matter, not even your life or that of your family." Tengen explained, his expression finally changing into that of a bitter frown at his own words, "That was the way we were all raised, me and all of my eight siblings...by the time I was your age though, only one of them had survived, and he had become an exact replica of my father. 'Our subordinates are pawns, our wives are nothing but means to birth heirs, and those heirs must be made to serve the clan. Nothing matters but the clan'..." The Pillar sighed, "I didn't want to become like that...so when my father passed away and I was forced to take over the clan, I instead ran away and never looked back. And I'm glad I did because shortly afterward I'd meet Lord Kagaya and join the Demon Slayer Corps."

Inosuke looked down, realizing now what Tengen had meant when he said they were alike. He also didn't exactly have an easy childhood, being raised in the wild and all, but what the Pillar had just told him sounded far worse than that. All those things he'd regretted doing, the man had been forced by his very upbringing to do worse. It brought about a new light as to how he saw this odd man, but it still left him with one important question in mind, "How...how do you make yourself feel better again after doing all that terrible stuff...?"

Tengen gave the younger Demon Slayer a long, hard stare, his lips pursed his lips pensively, "...you don't. These things change you, but you learn to live with it, cope with what you've done, and try to redeem yourself by doing better. Being a Demon Slayer is a noble job, Inosuke. With every demon we put down, we're saving dozens of people who would otherwise be eaten by them, not to mention the very human they once were. I imagine though that this was not the reason you joined the Corps, but it might be something you want to think about from now on."

"So...you're saying if I slay enough demons, I'll be able to make myself feel better?" Inosuke inquired hopefully, seeing as that was something he really knew how to do.

"Not...quite," Tengen told him after staring at the boy silently for a moment, "What I'm saying is that you made mistakes, but we all do that, and we're all haunted by it. If you don't want these mistakes to repeat themselves, you should try to be better than before. You know what you did wrong, but you should also ask yourself why. In my case, it was the obedience to my clan enforced to me in my upbringing that I had to overcome, not to mention my fears of leaving despite wanting to for so long." He then motioned at Inosuke, "What would you say are your flaws?"

The blue-haired Slayer took a moment of thought, considering all his mistakes and what had caused them, "...I didn't think before I acted. I knew those spiders feared me and I knew they were being controlled, but I never stopped to think about them when I swung my sword. I only thought about how they were attacking me, and so I attacked back."

"Good, that means you have to learn to be more precautious." Tengen summarized, only for the boy who literally did not know the word to stare and him in confusion, "That means you have to think before you act." This only resulted in him changing from confusion to a blank stare seeing as that was literally what he had just said, "Anyway, what else do you think you should fix about yourself?"

After another moment of thought, Inosuke spoke again, "Back when we were fighting the Lower Moon...I realized at one point that Zenitsu was stronger than me...and that made me feel angry. I wanted to take the lead, to get the final blow on the bastard...so I did, I rushed in and tried to take him down all by myself, which was when the demon tricked me and got a blow in He would've killed me if Zenitsu hadn't jumped in. I was too hurt, so he fought the demon from then on, and nearly killed it too, but if I hadn't done that and let him lead, I know we could've done the fucker in...I didn't though. And so he lost his fingers, I lost my head, and Murata was killed."

"...that's pride. It's a common flaw among those who are strong." Tengen told him, earning the boy's attention, "It can be a good thing, to be proud of your strength or of what you have done. In moderance, it can motivate you to achieve new heights. However, it's never an emotion you should let guide your actions. Pride is what prevented my clan from letting go of the ninja ways and continue raising their children in such a despicable way."

"I don't get it..." Inosuke admitted, "So should I be proud or should I not?"

"It's not that simple. Pride is not an emotion you should completely deny yourself, but rather keep it in constant check." Tengen explained, "Let me put it that way, from the way you spoke I can tell you looked down on others who were weaker than yourself, but will you really keep thinking like that after someone you called weak sacrificed themselves to save your lives?"

Those words struck a chord in Inosuke as he looked down with a hard stare, once again feeling the guilt for his actions, "...no. But I should be the one protecting them then, not the other way around."

This actually managed to get a small smile out of the former ninja, "See? It's not that hard to take the first step towards betterment, is it? You're not a bad person, Inosuke, nor are you a coward for leaving that boy behind like your pride might tell you. You never forced him to stay, it was a decision he made by himself knowing the risks full well. Besides, you still carried your wounded comrade all the way down the mountain. A worse person might've left him behind and just run away to save his own skin. You made mistakes, but you tried your best to diminish the damage of your actions as soon as you realized that. I couldn't have said the same thing myself when I was your age..."

Inosuke took all that into consideration but knew this was no basis for him to judge himself. Had he left Zenitsu behind then after having his life saved twice over by the blond, then he'd truly be scum and the fact that if he'd worked with Zenitsu to end the demon in the first place, Murata would've never been forced to make that choice. Still, seeing this man before him with all he had gone through standing strong as a Pillar put his situation in perspective, and seemingly for the first time allowed for some slight reprieve of his guilt and regret, "...I guess you have a point. Murata gave his life so we had a chance. I can't waste something like that..." He stared down at his open hand and closed it into a fist, "I gotta become better...stronger..."

"That's a good thought and all, but with your body in its current state, I wouldn't go around abusing it as you've been doing." Tengen pointed out, "You should let yourself heal before you go back to intense training. For the time being, I'd tell you to focus on fixing those flaws we talked about, especially that pride of yours. It did cost you your fight against the Lower Moon, so you could see it as some sort of training to cover your weaknesses."

Inosuke nodded, as that was indeed a good way of putting it, making tackling something as unfamiliar as emotional issues far more relatable to him, but it still left one question hanging, "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Well, that part is for you to figure out. You know what you need to fix, now you need to do identify it and find a way to control your pride, as well as learn to think before acting. I'm not saying it will be easy, but all I can really do is give you some perspective and make you think about it. When it comes to really fixing it, then that's all on you, kid." The Pillar informed him.

Hearing that, Inosuke frowned lightly, realizing this might be much harder than it sounded at first, but even then that didn't mean he wouldn't go through with it, "Okay, I understand."

Tengen narrowed his eyes, nodding as well as he pushed himself away from the tree, "In that case, I have managed to achieve what I came here for in the first place." He stated, turning his back on the watching boy and walking some distance away, "I wish you luck with your efforts. I'll be stopping by to check on how you're doing sooner or later. Until then, see ya." The Sound Pillar. stated with a casual wave before disappearing entirely in a blur. Inosuke turned his gaze away from where the man had been a moment ago, left with much in his head to think about. He sighed as, even though its loss seemed like something minor on the face of all his other issues, he still really wished he had the comfort of his boar head...

* * *

Kanao Tsuyuri was roaming the halls of the Butterfly Mansion with a distant look in her pink-toned eyes. With the state of the other Senses after the night at Natagumo, she herself had been left with a lot on her mind, not exactly in an adequate mental state to fully focus on her training. The fact that her sister was also not around didn't help either, seeing as Shinobu was the one the girl would normally go for advice in such emotional issues. Despite her not being all that far away, the Ubuyashiki Mansion was still not somewhere any Demon Slayer could visit without a prior invitation or a very good reason, which she wasn't sure she and her friends' problems really were.

Immersed by her line of thoughts, Kanao would barely notice as she was about to turn a right into her corridor in the house, but as she glanced to the side, would see someone coming around the corner another widen her eyes, quickly backing up to hide with her back to the wall opposite to the corridor's. She only heard as the footsteps grew louder, before reaching a peak as he walked past her. She was sweating nervously as she turned her head and eyed through the doorway at the corridor just in time to get a second-long glance of the crimson-clad back of Tanjiro, the bandages covering his forehead in clear contrast with his long burgundy hair even during that brief moment. She held her breath all the while, and wouldn't let it escape through her mouth until his footsteps were no longer audible.

It was hard, seeing them like this. She didn't like seeing Zenitsu so melancholic or Inosuke pushing himself desperately, but she especially didn't like seeing Tanjiro. She was the one who found him first, after all, and she had seen him at his barest. After leaving the other Senses to Tengen Uzui's care, she had made her way up Natagumo in search of Tanjiro until she found him at the very peak of the mountain. She remembered, first seeing him from behind while surveying the clearing from the opposite side of the mountain. She'd approached him, called out his name, told him help had arrived and that they could go. He had turned to look at her, and at that moment she hadn't even noticed the wound on his forehead, but rather what she saw was the emptiest look Kanao had ever seen in a person's eyes. At some point during their training together, she had noticed how, in his eyes, there was always a hint of kindness beneath all that composure, like a glint in his eye. Not something she had ever mentioned to anyone, and something even her in all her attentiveness took a while to notice, but something that nonetheless had made her relax around him and warm up to the boy rather quickly from then on. Looking into his eyes then, she realized that there was nothing in them, no feeling, nothing to read, just a black void.

Even thinking about it then made her uncomfortable, let alone at the moment itself. She froze, unable to do a thing as he rose to his feet and walked right past her without a word, making his way back down the mountain, and she trailed behind from a good distance, bringing with her the sword he'd just left behind. By the time they reached the other Demon Slayers and the Kakushi, no one was particularly reactive to his arrival, which initially confused her, but upon mustering the courage to get another look at his face, she'd understand why. Tanjiro looked at first glance to be no different than normal, his composure was all there, but she had immediately noticed how the spark of kindness in his eyes she'd grown so fond of had disappeared entirely. He was maintaining a straight face throughout, but she couldn't even look at him without immediately noticing he was not his normal self.

It wasn't until they were making their way back that someone else even seemed to notice what was wrong with him, which was when Genya attempted striking a conversation with him, to which the straight-faced Tanjiro was completely unresponsive to. Things had escalated quickly with the scarred boy's short fuse, and it resulted in an annoyed Genya finally hitting him across the face, knocking the red-clad boy down. All he did however was get on a knee, shoot a brief look at his attacker while wiping the blood off the corner of his mouth, and turning away to get up and continue walking. This had left even Genya in shock as he probably understood that something was terribly wrong with Tanjiro.

Kanao had watched it all from the sidelines, and as much as she wanted to interfere, a powerful hesitation had taken ahold of her with the still-fresh memory of meeting that cold-eyed Tanjiro atop the mountain. She had no idea how to approach him in that state, let alone say anything meaningful that might've helped him. Zenitsu was stuck in his depression and Inosuke was obsessed with training his pains away, and both were hard enough already, but Tanjiro seemed like he wasn't even really there. The idea alone of coming face to face with him again was so nerve-wracking she had been constantly avoiding him ever since they returned to the Butterfly Estate. Aoi had tried at one point to get her to speak to him, but even though she really felt she should, she'd still brushed her off with a weak promise to 'try'. And it all did make her feel bad, but it felt like something so completely out of her control Kanao had no idea what to even do. All she could do was hope that Tanjiro dug himself out of the hole he was in, but at the moment, there wasn't a person in the world who knew what was really going on in his head other than himself...

* * *

Tanjiro Kamado was not in a good place.

The last few days since the incident at the mountain had been a blur to him, going by with little real idea of the time that had passed. He felt hungry, but couldn't bring himself to eat without getting immediately nauseous. He felt tired, but couldn't even try and fall asleep without closing his eyes and seeing his dead family staring back at him in disappointment. He could not even muster the courage to draw his own sword again after finding it left by his door one morning. He was in an even worse state than back when his very family was killed. Back then he'd dedicated all his grief and regret to the intense training regimen he'd been assigned by his master and thus was able to take his mind of the incident itself, instead focusing only on the goal it had driven him towards. This was different. There was no goal or training that could fix this, he just felt...aimless.

Most of the time he'd spent since returning from Natagumo had been sitting around in his room or walking aimlessly through the large house's corridor for hours at an end. Currently, he was doing the latter, wearing a plain expression to hide his tire while making his way wherever his feet would take him. Aside from the Kakushi, from time to time, he would get glimpses of the others in his walks, be it Inosuke training restlessly in the courtyard or Zenitsu in his own misery after losing most of his hand. Both were obviously affected by the mission, and he felt bad at being unable to help them, but being far from his best days himself, he didn't feel like he even could. Other times he would get glimpses of Aoi doing her chores around the house or an awkward-looking Genya who would always look away when he was around. He knew the scarred boy wasn't exactly comfortable around him after their last interaction and how that had gone down, but he felt that was for the best at the moment. There was, however, someone he hadn't really seen during his walks...

This was perfectly exemplified when, in the middle of his walking, he would suddenly smell the sweet flowery scent easily recognizable as Kanao's own. Though he couldn't see her, he could tell she was hiding behind the wall opposite to the one on his left, probably trying to avoid coming face to face with him. He let out a small silent sigh at that but continued walking regardless. It wasn't the first time he had sensed her come near, but hesitate at the last moment. It was obvious their first meeting in the mountain, with her seeing him at his lowest point with his guard completely down, had shaken her. He had tried not to make the same mistake since. Unless he was sure he was all by himself, he always put on a mask, constantly mimicking himself in a better state to the best of his abilities in his day to die, trying to make others think he was fine. It could only work so well, he knew as much. His actions spoke louder than his words, so the likes of Aoi had also long realized something was wrong with him despite never seeing the worst of it firsthand like the other two had. Really, it was all an exercise in futility, but he still did so to keep them all away, which somehow seemed to have worked well enough so far, and that was also probably for the best.

He would continue his aimless walking around the mansion then until he eventually found himself back in his room. Stumbling his way in, Tanjiro absentmindedly slid the door shut behind him and turned to look to the side at the mirror in the corner of the room. In it he saw a disheveled reflection of himself, staring back with baggy eyes and a pale complexion, the unchanged bandages around his forehead having gone from their initial white color to a dirtier yellow after a few days. He narrowed his tired eyes before reaching out and ripping them off, dropping the bandages on the ground to reveal the reshaped scar on his forehead, a brownish-red mark with sharp edges stopping short of reaching his left eyebrow. His previous scar, the one he had gotten while protecting his younger brother from a falling brazier, had always been a secret motive of pride for him because the frayed patch of skin made him even further resemble his father and the birthmark on his own forehead. Now, with its new jagged appearance, it felt as if this link had been tainted by her flames, leaving it as it now was. After a few seconds, he grew uncomfortable staring at it, and turned his gaze away, walking up to his futon on the ground, collapsing back first onto it.

By now he knew sleep was no good. He'd tried it before and the one time he managed to actually fall asleep it wasn't long before he was woken up by the nightmares. Even while unconscious he couldn't really take his mind off it all. So, Tanjiro just lay there, letting the usual thoughts take him over like they had constantly as of late. He'd tried to fight them off before, but it all proved pretty useless, so by then he'd long given up and let them just swarm his mind. Take over, for the lack of a better word. After all, how was he supposed to even begin dealing with something like that? How was he supposed to cope?

He had seen Nezuko, alive before his very eyes as a bloodthirsty demon, corrupted by Muzan Kibutsuji, and turned against him. His reencounter with his sister was not something he had mentioned to anyone, nor did he feel like he could bring himself to. That moment alone had changed his perspective about his constant endeavors in a way he knew couldn't be reversed. Ever since starting his journey as a Demon Slayer, he had a final goal. To kill Muzan Kibutsuji and end the threat of demonkind with him. But along the way, another idea had blossomed in his mind. He had seen humanity overpower a demon's instincts once before with his very sister, so he knew it wasn't impossible that amidst all the cruel, maneating beasts he would come to fight, there might be some whose human side might still shine through. Killing the progenitor demon, according to his own master, should cause a chain reaction that would lead to the simultaneous death of every other demon under his grip, but he knew that if there were any lost souls amidst them that could still be saved, he had a duty to find them and try to do so before that day came.

He was wrong though. Nezuko was not uncorrupted, she had a moment of humanity, but had somehow survived and fallen right back into the vices of demonhood, as evidenced by the Demon Slayers she had killed before his very eyes. Tanjiro couldn't claim to know how or why, but she had. In theory, that should simplify things. No good demons meant no souls worth redemption, and yet it all still pained him on a very personal level in a way he just couldn't shake off. He would be killing Nezuko by killing Muzan, and heavy a burden as that was, what truly bothered him was something beyond that. She was his sister, part of his family, and the hardest death he had to come to terms out of any of them. Yet she wasn't dead, she was taken from him, remodeled to fit a mold and made into a cold-blooded monster. There was still something of the Nezuko he knew in her, or else she wouldn't have shown any hesitation or surprise when he first uttered her name, but that just made it worse. She was trapped, buried deep down in a mind that was no longer her own to be used by Muzan as a weapon against the Demon Slayer Corps. It made her earlier death seemed dignified, and it made him regret not being able to prevent it all the more.

Now knowing full well that his sister was somewhere out there hurting others and that there was nothing he could do weighed on him like nothing else. Tanjiro had known from the moment he had found the corpses of his siblings and a still-breathing Nezuko that he had to protect her at all costs. Failing like he did had been something he had to work very hard for very long to forgive himself for, and even then it wasn't really a wound that had truly healed, just one that would bleed out from time to time and give him a taste of the guilt and regret that had since become so familiar to him. He realized though that when his time came and he finally got to see them again, his family would forgive him, even the very sister he failed. The Nezuko he knew had always said that he took the full responsibility for the family in his shoulders far too often as if trying to stand in for their ailing father, even back when he was still a child, but she told him that this was wrong, that this responsibility should be shared equally amongst them, especially with herself, the oldest sister. Those words had brought him back from some very dark places in previous times, but this time wasn't one of them. The wounds that for the longest time only ached him from time to time seemed to have opened up fully again, and they just wouldn't stop bleeding. He couldn't even safely say his family would really forgive him for his failures anymore if he even got to see them again. He couldn't exactly blame them, seeing as it was his failures that had left Nezuko on the hands of a fate even worse than death.

Maybe if he had managed to drag Nezuko down when Giyu Tomioka tried to cut her down, he could've avoided it all. Maybe he would've convinced the Water Pillar of what he saw, how she was different from other demons. He knew that with the way things had happened, his only choice then would be to become a Demon Slayer regardless, but he could've stayed with her by his side. Tried to fix his sister, turn her back to human. It was a nice thought, one he spent way too long wondering about, and for a moment there he forgot all his issues and everything was back to normal, a better normal even. It was a comforting thought, but little more than that, and by the time he came to realize that, his regret had intensified even further by the idea that it all could've been different if not for his lack of action when it really mattered.

Tanjiro would continue on staring onto the ceiling for a while, unblinking with how entranced he was with his own thoughts. Until that is, he eventually blinked, and only then realized how it had suddenly gotten darker. Turning to look outside, he'd be somewhat surprised to see that it was already nighttime and that he'd spent hours in his futon thinking. Not exactly unusual since he'd done very little else recently, but still worth some surprise. Groaning, he would sit up, and have his stare drawn to the open doors leading to the courtyard, more specifically to the open-air wooden passageway that went the whole way around the mansion, and his sheathed katana lying out there on the floor.

After a moment's hesitation, he rose to his feet and made his way outside, his eyes locked on the weapon all the way. He stood above it for a while, staring directly down unsure if he should even try, but eventually, he'd purse his lips and slowly kneel down before the sword. He would then stay knelt before it for some more time, pursing his lips before eventually reaching out and gripping it with one hand at the hilt and the other at the scabbard. A Nichirin katana, the Demon Slayer's Weapon, not something to be taken lightly. His grueling two-year-long training was all about earning his right to wield it, and yet at the moment, he didn't feel the least bit worthy. Nonetheless, he tried drawing it, and immediately the first image that came to mind was the several Demon Slayers burning to death before his very eyes by Nezuko. Noble people who gave their life for their war with demonkind all because of her. And thus, because of him. His hand shook, but he tried drawing it further. He remembered Giyu, arriving swinging his katana at his sister's neck, and herself swinging a katana of her own at his. He could've prevented it, but he didn't, so it was all on him. He had saved many people as a Demon Slayer, but something told him that she had killed more of them. And it was all on him.

He quickly pushed the blade back inside its scabbard and dropped it to the ground, eyes closed tightly shut as he panted slightly. That blade held with it all the responsibility entrusted onto him by Yoriichi, and he'd always carried it proudly, but with all his good deeds being weighed against his sister's bad ones, he no longer felt worthy, neither of his blade nor of the Breath he had been entrusted with. So how was he supposed to keep on fighting when he couldn't even bring himself to draw his sword again...? The question itself made him feel even worse. There was so much responsibility in his shoulders, so many expectations, be it from his Master, his friends or even Kagaya Uburashiki himself, and finding himself unable to meet those made him feel as if he was being slowly crushed by them. Narrowing his eyes, he would reach out for each of his ears and, one at a time, take off his two hanafuda earrings. With both on his palm, he would gaze down at them with a hard stare. If he wasn't worthy of a Demon Slayer's blade, was he really even worthy of wearing those either? The heirloom of a family he'd been told to protect by his dying father as he was given them, but had spectacularly failed in doing so?

While he was wallowing in his own misery, he would feel the wind suddenly change, allowing a previously undetected smell to reach his nose that caused him to suddenly turn his head to the side in surprise, the hand with the earrings closing into a fist to hide them. He hadn't expected this twice in a day and, while normally he'd just ignore it, this time he had been caught with his guard down. It bothered him that he had allowed himself to be seen in such a sorry state, so much so that for a brief moment those emotions overwhelmed his own creed of conduct, with him directing the frustration he felt at himself at the girl he knew was hiding just around the corner out of his sight, "What do you want, Kanao?" Tanjiro asked in a mixture of tiredness and annoyance. There was a moment of silence before Kanao emerged from around the corner, looking down flustered, her gaze averting his own. She approached him, but continued staring at the ground and away from him, "What is it?" He inquired impatiently, pressing her further out of nothing but his own lack of patience at the moment.

"..." The girl stared down to the side at the grass, her left hand grabbing onto the right one's wrist nervously before she suddenly paused and turned to meet his gaze, her expression steeled, but with an evident melancholy in her eyes, "...we're all worried about you, Tanjiro." She told him quietly, "You're not acting like yourself lately."

His momentary frustration was immediately replaced by guilt at lashing at Kanao like without any real reason when she was just worrying about him. It was his turn to look away now, trying to regain his composure in order to convince the girl he was fine. This had nothing to do with her, after all, "...I'm sorry. I've been a bit stressed lately." He tried to force a reassuring smile as he looked back at her way, "But it's fine, I just need some time to think things out."

She pursed her lips, clearly not convinced by his answer, "I know that's not true, Tanjiro...the way you've been acting is completely unlike you." She hesitated again, before adding, "...something bad happened back in the mountain, didn't it?"

Tanjiro was caught off guard by this, not having expected her to persist past his reassurance. His expression would shift from the empty smile to momentary surprise to a grimmer look, one in which himself turning his gaze back forward. This was not a conversation he wanted to have, not at all. It might as well be the last thing he wanted to do right now. Thus, even knowing it was wrong, he would once again turn a cold shoulder to Kanao, "Maybe you don't know me as well as you think." He told her bluntly, "This is a passing thing, trust me. You've got nothing to worry about."

He didn't look directly at her as to not break his own facade, but he could tell that Kanao was hurt by his refusal to open up and the cold words that came with it, and yet she still refused to back down, "Tanjiro, please...I know something's hurting you, but you need to talk to someone about it." She tried convincing him, "Whatever it is, it isn't something you need to bear alone."

"You don't know that." He immediately said, the truest words he had yet to speak in this conversation. Sighing, he leaned forward with his head hanging down, yet to look back at her, instead choosing to open his hand and look down at the two earrings in his palm, "...besides, who is gonna talk to me? You? Who barely even understands feelings?"

"...yes." She decidedly stated after a moment, earning a curious sideways glance from him, at which point he noticed her gaze had also been drawn to his open palm, "You might think you don't have anyone else, Tanjiro. Your family is all gone, I know...but we're all here for you. We're your friends, and none of us want to see you like this. I want to help you, but I can't help you if you keep pushing us all away..."

He sighed, pinching the base of his nose and rubbing his tired eyes with his fingers, "You wouldn't understand..." He muttered despondently, "Save yourself the trouble and let me be. I don't need help."

"I know you don't mean that." Kanao stated with certainty, "You're a kind person, Tanjiro...and that's why you're trying to push us all away. You don't wanna burden anyone with your problems...but it's okay to rely on someone else." She sat down on the floor beside him, "I wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as I did without your help, and I just want to pay you back for it...so please, tell me what's the matter..."

Tanjiro paused in thought, before taking a deep, long breath, letting his hands fall down numbly to leave hanging on his legs. He knew she had a point, of course she did, this whole thing was slowly tearing him from the inside out, and so far dealing with it by himself had done nothing but make it worse. Still, he hated the idea of laying all this upon her, as if he was afraid to become her own emotional burden in the process. "Are you sure you wanna know...?" He asked quietly, his facade fully dropped.

"Of course." She said without a hint of hesitation, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

The red-clad boy glanced at his shoulder where her hand had been placed, silently wondering when was the last time he had even experienced this kind of warmth in human contact, small as it might seem. He looked up at the sky at the gibbous moon partially hidden in the clouds and, without turning to Kanao, asked her, "Do you remember the other Lower Moon Demon? The one with the mask, wielding the sword?" He inquired.

"...well, I wasn't there with you and the others, but I heard from their reports about her." She admitted, "I also heard you went chasing after a demon, but...back when I found you in the mountain, there were no signs of her anymore...does that mean you managed to slay her?"

He sighed, shaking his head, "It wasn't...that easy..." He murmured, "I did get to fight her, but I couldn't finish her off. She was strong, very strong, used breathing techniques I've never even heard of...but that's not what really bothered me. At some point, I broke her mask and...there was the face of my dead sister."

Kanao blinked in confusion, "Your...sister?"

"I guess I never did tell you that part..." Tanjiro noted with a sad smile, "My family was all killed by a demon, I told you as much already but my sister...she survived as a demon." This visibly surprised her, seeing as every Demon Slayer knew there was only one man who could really turn humans into demons, "She attacked me, of course, but when I spoke to her...I felt like there was still something of Nezuko there. I never had the chance to really find out, since a Demon Slayer came along and cut her down, and I saw her fading away before my eyes...until when I saw her again in the mountain. It was her, I'm sure of it, but at the same time...it wasn't. Not like I knew her anyway. Seeing Nezuko again like this...I just couldn't take it. I can't cope with it." His voice broke for a second there, his sad smile long gone and replaced by a look of complete mental exhaustion.

There were a few good seconds of silence that followed that confession both of them just standing side by side, Tanjiro having just opened his heart and immediately beginning to ask himself if he had done the right thing while Kanao just sat beside him without a word to say upon hearing all that. After what seemed like the longest time, the silence was finally broken as she quietly spoke again, "I'm sorry...I...didn't know..."

"It's not your fault, Kanao." He said, bluntly but truthfully, "It's mine. I could've saved her back then, but I made a mistake, and it didn't just cost my sister her life, it cost her very humanity. She's killed people. I've seen it with my own eyes, Demon Slayers too tired to even hurt anyone burned alive by her not even for sustenance, but on a whim. And that's all on me."

"But...it isn't," She disagreed then, regaining her composure after being stunned silent by his story, "You can't blame yourself for what they did to your sister, Tanjiro. The only one to at fault here is Muzan Kibutsuji for doing this to your family, you know that..."

"I do, but it doesn't change the fact that I failed her." Tanjiro raised his hand, opening it to reveal the earrings again, "These were given to me by my father right before he died. He told me to take care of the family when he wasn't around. I know there was nothing that I could've done for them, that being there would've just meant me dying alongside everyone else, if not worse. But...I really did have a chance at saving her, and somehow things still turned out the worst possible way...am I really even worthy of wearing them at this point?"

Kanao stared herself at the earrings in his palm before frowning lightly, "...I actually ask myself something similar quite often." She admitted then, earning a glance from Tanjiro as she reached out to the side of her head and undid the green butterfly ornament holding up her hair, letting it fall down to her shoulders as she held the butterfly carefully at eye level with a somewhat morose look, "This used to belong to my big sister when she was still alive. She was the Flower Pillar, even stronger than Shinobu. I only ever learned the Breath of Flowers by watching and mimicking her. By wearing this, I'm carrying with me a piece of her, just like with your family in those earrings. Sometimes it feels like it's a lot though...I know I can't replace her, but that doing anything less than my best to catch up as best as I can would be disrespecting her sacrifice. Is that how you feel about your earrings?"

Tanjiro turned his glance back down at the earrings pensively, "...yeah, I do." He admitted, "I'm sure your sister would've been proud to see what you've achieved...but I don't think I can really say the same about my family." The boy let out a short, humorless chuckle at the thought.

"I'm sure they would be proud if they saw you now, Tanjiro." She tried to convince him.

"I'm sure they wouldn't if they saw my sister." He retorted without missing a beat.

"But you shouldn't think like that!" Kanao then exclaimed, "You may be hard on yourself Tanjiro, but that still doesn't change the fact that you're an amazing Demon Slayer and an even better person. You can't let yourself be defined by a single mistake of years ago..."

"No? Not even when that same mistake has and will cost the lives of other humans? When it cost my own sister her humanity? Can I really feel fine with myself after all this happened because of me?" He asked, turning to her for an answer even when he didn't really expect one of her.

It took Kanao a moment as she stopped and stared off at the ground silently, but right when he thought his suspicions had been confirmed, she spoke again, "I...don't know. I don't know, Tanjiro. Those are hard questions, and I haven't lived through the same hardships as you did, but...I am certain that you are better than the person you were when you made that mistake."

Tanjiro would turn over to look at her in surprise, not having expected her to manage an answer, let alone make such a good point. "...well, I guess you're right." He conceded but still narrowed his eyes with the usual sorrow, "My progress so far doesn't redeem me from those mistakes though. I was too weak to save her then, and the blame for that falls solely on me."

"Maybe so, but there is nothing you can do to change that." She pressed on with the same conviction, "But you still have a say on what's yet to happen. If you remain stuck in your past mistakes, you'll just end up building up regrets and never be able to live in the present. You might not be able to ever change what happened, but you'll never redeem yourself if you don't get back up and try again."

Following that declaration, Tanjiro would stare at her silently with a half-open mouth and unblinking red eyes for a while, to the point where it would visibly make her uncomfortable by the time he blinked himself out of his momentary daze again, "...shit, you're right." He cursed quietly, the realization in his voice clear, "The longer I stay like this, the more I'll have to regret. Nezuko is still out there, somewhere...and I have to do something about that. Even if I'm not sure what that is right now, I know the worst thing I could do is do nothing about it."

"...that's right, Tanjiro. You can't let something like this drag you down." Kanao stated after shaking off her discomfort, seeming relieved now that her words seemed to be working, "Your sister is out there still, and regardless of what you decide to do about it, your family wouldn't want you to just turn their back on her, would they?"

"...no, of course, they wouldn't." Tanjiro agreed. It seemed crazy obvious on respective. He thought he needed time to make the right decision, but in the end he just ended up sinking into his own pity, and it would only get worse the longer he was in that state. Just like he was after his family died, before he met Yoriichi, before he was given a reason to keep going. And now, he saw that this wasn't an obstacle, just a reason to push him onwards. All it had taken was an untainted perspective to see that, something he'd failed to have for the longest time. Realizing that didn't make it stop hurting altogether though, but for the first time in a long time he felt like he could get up again, "Thanks, Kanao. I really needed to hear that.

She smiled, but shook her head, "You don't have to thank me...just know it's not something you have to burden yourself with. We're all here for you."

Tanjiro let out a small smile himself, the first one in a very long time, but paused for a second as said smile faltered, "...you know, I never told any of you this, but the time I spent at the Butterfly Mansion...it's the best I had in a very long time. It almost feels like I have something like to a home again..." He chuckled under his breath, "After a while, I even started seeing my other siblings in you guys...Zenitsu is scared and fidgety like little Rokuta, Inosuke is bold and brash like Takeo, Genya is tough and silent like Takeo...and you, Kanao, always reminded me of Hanako. She was kind and gentle, like you..." He opened another sad smile, sighing at the memory of his brothers and sisters, "...you're all very different people though. I know that...but sometimes I can't help but miss them."

Kanao frowned, looking at him in worry for a moment, but the sadness in him now was clearly different than what he was feeling before, "Tanjiro, I-" She was interrupted, yelping when the boy suddenly hugged her, his slow, shaky breaths giving away his need for some human warmth in that moment despite the fact that the girl couldn't see his face. Despite hesitating, she would still hug him back, awkwardly but comfortingly. It lasted a few seconds before Tanjiro let go of her and pulled away, donning a flustered smile as he rubbed his eye with his palm, "That...just came out."

"It's fine," Kanao said quietly, her lips pursed and her gaze turned down. It was dark, so he couldn't make it out fully, but for a second there her face didn't seem as pale as usual. She stood up quickly then, "Uh...I should get going now. It's getting late."

"Yeah, guess so." He agreed, still somewhat sheepish, but pausing before suddenly shifting his tone, "Uh...if you could keep the thing about my sister between us for now..."

"Yes, of course." She said, quickly but quietly, already turning away and walking in a hurry, "I didn't hear a thing."

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow at her strange demeanor, but nodded, "Alright...goodnight, Kanao."

"...night!" The girl squealed before taking a quick turn around the corner and going out of view.

"_...weird. But I guess she's always been a bit weird._" Tanjiro reflected silently, "_Who would've thought she would be the one to talk me out of it though. She's really becoming quite the girl after finally opening_ up..." That thought though was interrupted when he stared down and noticed the earrings still in his hand. Frowning slightly, he decided to put them back on, "_I mean, it's not like I feel all better about it..._" He narrowed his eyes, turning his gaze down to his sword, taking a firm hold of its scabbard and tightly gripping the hilt before drawing his katana in one swift motion, "_...but this is definitely better._" Resheathing his blade, he would fall on his back, hands crossed behind his back as he watched the sky above, eyes fixed on the moon, "You wait, Nezuko...I'll find you, no matter where you are..." He quietly but determinedly, only that declaration to himself was broken when he couldn't resist the urge to suddenly yawn, breaking his focused gaze at the sky, "...but not now."

It wouldn't be long after that when Tanjiro eventually dozed off in that very position just outside his room, finally managing to get some well-deserved sleep.

* * *

Kanao reached her room after a short jog around the house and quickly slid the door in it shut, leaning back against it and collapsing slowly until she was sat on the floor with her back against it. She was undoubtedly glad to help Tanjiro through his hardships, even if she was forced to approach him rather than building up her courage for it as she had intended. Not to mention, it really felt like she knew him so much better after seeing the boy in his worst and having such an earnest exchange with him. What happened back there had been a very personal moment they shared.

However, she really hadn't expected that hug. Tanjiro was not someone to open up like that, and given the burden he had been carrying, the boy had probably been in need of real human contact and that hug was his way of showing his gratitude for caring in a moment of emotion. She knew that, of course she did. But what Kanao didn't know was why she felt so weird about it. Reaching her hand up to her cheek, she could tell it was still warm, her entire face reddened and her heart pounding heavily in her chest, an odd feeling on the pit of her stomach. She was learning more about the emotions she'd once discarded by the day, but this was totally different from anything she'd felt ever, and the more she thought about the hug that had led to this odd feeling the worst it seemed to get. Sighing, she hugged her knees closer by the chest and sunk the lower half of his face on her legs, raising with a hand the butterfly ornament left to her by her sister while drifting off in her own thoughts, but try as she might, she wouldn't be able to take her mind off Tanjiro for the rest of the night.

**A/N: So...this was a long chapter. Longer than anything I've ever posted. Even the word count for the chapter itself pre Author's Note is longer than anything else I posted in this story, so in total this should be quite a long read. It would've been longer if I didn't cut it short, I intended to do Inosuke, Tanjiro and Zenitsu in this chapter, but turns out delving deep into the characters and fixing them back to a working state takes a lot of words. Before I get to the chapters itself though, I gotta mention that a reader by the name of Utagawa has begun writing a Spanish translated version of Branching Paths on Wattpad under the name of Caminos de Ramificacion, so that's my shoutout to that guy throwing any Spanish speaking readers who might be interested in that his way.**

**Something I forgot to add last chapter which is kind important is that, in my eyes, last chapter was the end of Act 1 in this story if you can even really separate it that way, making this the start of Act 2, the middle. Given the way this story structure works, that would mean I am a fourth of the way done here, meaning a total more of eighty-four chapters being my predicted size of this story, which seems like a reasonable guess given my long term plans in this story. More likely than not though, its a low estimation, seeing as the middle portion might be more than 50% of the story as the model would state. Who knows.**

**Going into the chapter itself, its initial name was 'Nurturing Wounds', but that is apparently grammatically incorrect according to Reddit, so the more accurate but duller sounding 'Nursing Wounds' it is. This is, of course, referring to the fact that the characters here are kind of patching up and rising up after the Heroic BSOD they all suffered from the last arc. Not overcoming it completely, god no, but getting into a form where they can once get up and start doing stuff again after going through some emotional trauma. There will be more of that next chapter with Zenitsu, but sticking to Tanjiro and Inosuke in this chapter works too, seeing as their problems are, in a way, similar but opposites. Similar as in both of them regret things they did previously and are given some perspective in order to begin overcoming that, but opposite because one of them has to accept the fact that he has to take more responsibility for his own actions while the other has to learn to share the responsibility he carries as a burden with others.**

**For Inosuke the person who gives him the pep talk here is Tengen, which might seem like a weird choice, but he did have the toughest life out of any pillar, comparable only to Obanai. Not only did he have to watch his family die like other pillars, but he devoted himself entirely to something he didn't really believe for the sake of his family and probably did some very bad stuff during that time as a ninja. Which is why I thought he'd be the best possible character to talk to Inosuke, seeing as Tengen's own burdens make his look lighter in comparison and that is a good way to believably getting someone so hardheaded as our pig boy to begin accepting some change to himself. Speaking of Tengen, I also mentioned the Pillar Meeting was delayed a bit. Regarding...some plans were revised, so I gave myself a bit of an out. We're getting into that in the next chapter.**

**Then there is Tanjiro, who now finally has a scar more akin to his canon self's post Final Selection, which just plainly looks cooler than the patch of bruised skin he previously had. For him, its Kanao rather than Tengen, and I don't have much to say on their interaction or Tanjiro's thoughts that weren't that clear in the chapter itself already. The aftermath is something I feel the need to comment on, since we're at the point out slow-burn romance finally starts actually showing a hint of a blaze with Kanao finally beginning to develop some feelings for Tanjiro beyond the friendship they've forged so far, even if she doesn't really realize it yet.**

**With all that said, I don't wanna make the long chapter any longer. Thanks to DownwardDive but no, man, you cannot have my story. I think people seem pretty happy with me writing it.**

**Anywho, anyhow, anywhat...the reviews.**

_KermitDaFwog: I've been binge reading this entire fic and made an account just to review it, so needless to say, its great._  
_I've been wondering though, when another lower demon moon falls, wouldn't Muzan just disband them? I remember reading in one of your author's notes that you were planning to give spotlight to the shafted lower demon moons, but I'm stumped as to how you plan to do it. Guess I just gotta wait and see how it pans out._  
_P.S: Personally I really enjoyed the ending and feel like if it focused on the people who survived the battle, the ones who died would be robbed of their happy ending (especially Obanai and Mitsuri)_

**Wow, an account made just to review this, I feel honored.**

**Maybe in canon, yes, but to be honest that would be a waste of manpower in this case, especially when Chihime challenging the other Moons is something done solely at his request. As for the other Lower Moons, well, all I can say is that we'll be getting back to that pretty soon.**

**I liked the ending too, it's pretty solid in a genre where satisfying endings are less often than not. Just not what I would've done, much less what I will do, that's all.**

_Sun dud737: Will Tanjirou be apart of the pillar meeting so he can confront Giyuu about nezuko_

**Well, you're gonna have to wait some time longer to see how that goes.**

_The Empty Hollow: Another great chapter. Inosuke development is going to be quite changing; admitting he isn't the strongest, and starting to REALLY care about other people's lives. Hell, he might actually start saying their names right. He only does that in emergencies, which is hilarious, if a little sad._  
_Blood Battle between Moon Demons was glossed over in canon, even though the difference between a Lower Moon and an Upper Moon was stressed over, and the idea of making the winner swallow the eye (yuck!) is a good way for it to go._  
_Genya mentioned the Pillar Meeting, which means his turn for development may be getting closer with the upcoming meeting with his brother._  
_All of that, and more, to come. I really can't wait._

**Inosuke is indeed developing. If the sequence last chapter was about really triggering that development, then this one is a means to begin establishing it. I think I'm too amused by it to ever fully abandon the Kamaboko Gonpachiro gag though.**

**Good to see you liked the Blood Battle. I'm actually a bit proud about the eye thing, to be honest. **

**Genya's getting his turn for sure, but right now Tanjiro and the other boys are still at a crucial point in their development, so I wanna focus on them a bit longer before getting back to him. Things really are gonna kick off for him once he meets back with his brother though.**

_Leo828: Will Tanjirou and Giyuu will ever be friends or be okay with each Tanjirou just found out about nezuko being alive and all._

**Well, Tanjiro is still just recovering from even meeting Nezuko again, but I do wanna address their complicated relationship when we get to the pillar meeting. **

_Guest with Gusto : Love how you had Chihime straight up do a Bakugou move to finish off her fight with RUi_

_Poor Murata though_

**Someone caught onto that, wow. Yeah, I kinda ripped that one moment straight out of the Deku vs Bakugou ending. **

_SpineCricket: Alright, what a treat to get another chapter. (I am the one who left the long review last chapter, with a formal account now)._

_So, we start off strong this chapter huh? First thing to notice here is Murata's death. Well shit, I definitely did not see you pulling that one. I should have been prepared for it seeing how you are not scared to maim even our main characters, but combine it with sad demon slayer music in the background and his death, you actually got me to tear up(Yet again something the original story did a lot to me every week). I am very glad his death was not meaningless, as it should be. His death carries weight to Inosuke, and he managed to save two persons he believes can turn the tide of the war. A very well written moment to be honest. RIP Murata, his sacrifice will not be forgotten. Now I know to prepare tissues every chapter of yours just in case._

_Then we have Chihime's fight against Rui. Yet another amazingly written fight, I can't help but admire the choreography you manage to express into it. It is great to see your representation of what a blood battle would be, something only mentioned in the original story. Now we see Chihime straight up hand Rui his ass and take his spot in the Lower Moons. I can't help but think that this story will be quite the very long one, because we do not just have all the moons that Tanji and the senses will probably fight now(Not counting those that could get in later on), but also Chihime on her own quest to go up the moon ranks(I wonder how high she'll get), after all Kokushibou trained her. It also leaves me to wonder, her link with Muzan is weaker, but she also seems to follow him loyally, he did save her and is all she remembers after all. I wonder how that will develop as she remembers more._

_Next we have Inosuke and Zenitsu. These two definitely had it bad this arc. Inosuke lost a valued possession and carries with him the thought of killing mercilessly what used to be humans(to his defense he did not know), and also with Murata's death after he stalled Rui enough time for them to escape and Chihime to end Rui's chase. That will be a lot to cope through. Then we have Zenitsu, who even lost almost a 'few' fingers even after doing his best against Rui. Must admit, I thought they would get him then. Aoi will be mad at him after what she told him...I believe more than physical, it will be more mental and emotional challenges they will have to overcome. Genya will probably meet with 'Nemi soon, so that is also a harsh one for him, probably will not end good._

_Then we have the not so kind anymore Tanjiro. Damn, he just got the heart wound open again. Not much to say about him as he was not the center of this chapter. He is probably more emotionally damaged than anything, he had been filling that gap left by his family with the new friends he has been making, but with Nezuko appearing like that to him, I wonder how it will affect his development until now. Can't wait to see more of that. Kanao showed some concern for Tanji interestingly enough, if I had to guess she finally is opening up more into the whole having friends thing, after all Tanji is also the one to trust her with protecting the others and suggesting her to open up more. She will find a wrecked boy though, can't wait for more interaction between those two too. And about her not having much development this arc, well there is a time for everything, I am sure you will give her, her own spotlight later on. Everyone got to progress through these hardships afterall._

_Great chapter as always, loved it and thanks a lot fo continuing this amazing story. Looking forward for next chapter!_

**Wow, an even bigger review. I'm by no means complaining. Its impressive, if anything.**

**Well, Murata's death above everything else is meant to set a tone here. It's obviously way too early to kill someone of significance, but it's important to establish what this is and what can happen, even if it should be implicit given the series I am writing for really likes to kill off people in very sad ways. That said, its good to see you thought it was effective. **

**Chihime vs Rui was a fun fight to write in just how different it is from everything else before it. It's pure demon vs demon, crazy power vs crazy power. That said, its by no means a long fight, since it very quickly establishes and follows through with Chihme's dominance, due to in no small part to a bad match in Demon Blood Arts. Still, it sets her objective independent of Tanjiro. Also, if you read my earlier estimations in the star of the author's note, you know the statement about this probably being very long is pretty accurate. As for her link with Muzan…well I wouldn't say its weaker than others, only a lot less one-sided.**

**Zenitsu and Inosuke suffer for the sake of their development, really, as this chapter would've made even clearer if I didn't cut Zenitsu's POV, but well, you'll have to wait for next chapter for that. Its also STILL gratifying when someone says they believed the boys would win that fight in a review, seeing as that was something I tried really hard to convince the reader of. And yeah, though Genya's meeting with his bro was pushed back a bit, that's gonna be another gut punch for a character, predictably enough.**

**Regarding Tanjiro and what became of him…well, you now got a full look at that. By the end of the chapter, he might've overcome the immediate depression that came after it, but this will still affect him for a long time to come. Kanao also got her own development from their interaction here, in a different way, which I see a pretty big step in her own character arc seeing as that is all about coming to understand and get in touch with her own feelings. **

**Anyway, thank you for the long review, its highly appreciated. Can't wait to see another one…no pressure.**.

_AnikaSukino 5d:I LOVE IT!_  
_This story is great and sublime! the narrative structure, the development of the characters! and the AU that you use is ... ufff I'm speechless!_  
_Take me time to read each chapter and it was worth it._  
_You know? The idea of what would have happened if Giyu had killed Nezuko (Although in your case you saved her in the last second to be part of the moons) is interesting. I go with the same idea to make a fanfic BUT how different it would be if Giyu DID kill Nezuko and Tanjiro not only was traumatized for life and yearns for his death to be reunited with his family, but while looking for a way to die, someone encourages the revenge. I want to do at least one-shot but first I want to end with Curse Blood which is a short story of an AU from the Kamado brothers._

_Anyway, I just wanted to write that I love your work and your idea of how the story started inspired me!_  
_I look forward to a new chapter! See you!_

**I really like the idea of an ACTUAL 'what if Nezuko died?' story. For me, there was obviously way more narrative potential in having her thrown to the other side, but a story like that could really go into Tanjiro's grief and his mentality. It's totally something I'd read at the very least.**

**Anyway, great to see you're enjoying this so much. Hope you stick around to see how it goes.**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: So you decided to go with the blood battle after all. And the idea of eating an eye with the number is very good idea in my opinion. After all you can tell someone is demon moon from his eyes. I think Nezuko will be able to climb to nr1 lower moon but I wonder how will she go from there. The power difference between nr.1 lower moon and nr.6 upper moon is way greater. She will need to eat a lot humans if she wants to take Daki place. Plus there is still Gyutaro._

_There is also Rui case. I wonder what do you want to do with him. Kinda doubt he will die here, maybe he will also start climbing with blood battles after nezuko? It would be kind of interesing if Rui will one day become upper moon too._

_Now that the manga is over fanfiction is the only thing left for me :P and this is the only KNY fanfic I really like, so I hope you won't burn yourself out on this story. Good luck :)_

**Yep, Blood Battles turned out to be way too good an opportunity to pass by once I figured where I could fit them into the story. I'm especially proud of the touch with the eye-eating thing, to be honest. As for Nezuko, she has a lot of potential as a demon, and is very well trained at that. To be honest, if anything, I'm limiting her in this story. Nezuko, without ever eating any humans, somehow still achieved a level where she could overpower the faux Upper Moon Six Daki. Who knows what would've actually happened if she started humans when you consider something like that.**

**As for Rui...well, I don't think he'll come back too soon. But he's still out there, and by the time he returns he might be very different from what you last saw.**

**Also, high praise saying mine is the only one you like. I will admit that there are only a few others which I accompany, and most are more out of curiosity than interest. My dissatisfaction with that was one of the reasons that pushed me into writing this, so yay I guess.**

_Wolvmbm : Amazing update as it seems that there are parts of Nezuko that are buried deep within her subconscious. It will be interesting to see what would happen next when the siblings reunite again._

_Plus I do wonder: How long will the others see Tanjiro's point of view and assist him in saving Nezuko ? It just seems like an uphill battle for him to deal with on his own._

_Overall this was a great showing of where Nezuko has been and how she has changed._.

_Nice character development for Inosuke too as it seems that his brash actions nearly got him and Zenitsu killed. Now he needs to rethink his actions and try to know when to act when working with a team. Right ?_

_Wonderful job on this tale. I can't wait to see what happens next now that Tanjiro knows that Nezuko is alive._

**Nezuko does still have a bit left of her, how much and how that might emerge is not really something I can say though. I'm glad to know you liked that short dive into her character though.**

**Kanao at least did, but for the time being, he is keeping that from anyone else since he's still figuring things out.**

**More or less, yeah. As you might've noticed, Inosuke had his own character dive this chapter, and the two things he realized he wants to fix in his own character going forward are his precocious nature and his pride.**

**Anywho, glad you liked this chapter, and I hope you did this one too.**

_HamburgerLife: Well, DaMn dO I hAvE mIxED fEeLinGS_

_First of all, I feel horrible and astonished that Inosuke has to take that huge wave of guilt in all at once, that's so mean yet so interesting. It will definitely be more than enough for character development._

_Second of all, excited for Kanao seeing Tanjiro's stunned state and how she'll react._

_Third of all, Damn that's one flamboyant ninja_

_Love the Chihime's point of view. Made my heart skip when she actually cared for and avenged the sister demon._

_STILL WHY MURATA OUR PRECIOUS BB ToT_

**Regarding Inosuke, I hope you liked on the follow up to that realization and the conclusions he got out of it.**.

**Sorry for kinda skipping over Kanao and Tanjiro's reunion and leaving the shortened version, but I hope their interaction here made up for that.**

**And yes, that is a flamboyant ninja. As we also established, a very melancholic one too.**

**Chihime's POV was something I was waiting for a while to get to, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.**

**Now, regarding Murata...well, whatcha want me to say, someone kinda had to go.**

_thestormwriter123: Great chapter, as usual. I'm extremely eager to see where you're going to take inosuke character from here, considering that you just dumped a bucket of ice water over he blames of his personality. Keep up the great work!_

**Well, we took another big step with Inosuke this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed the direction he's heading there. **

_lordpurgatory23: epic chapter, i like how every little event pushes the character in a very real way and the actions actually have weight, also i guess the fights have to be like that so eh. well good luck on writing your next chapter_

**Thanks, I'm glad you understand about the fights.**

_DEMONEZUKO : All the skaters are going to walk on Tanjirou questioning his existence. At least? Rui is still alive. Hope he actually takes Nezuko's advice so when he (eventually) dies he won't get disrespected._

_Keep up the good work. I'm glad we get lots of Chihime screen time this update. :D_

**Kanao did, and it was hard on her. And yeah, Rui's alive, but we won't be seeing him for some time now.**

**Glad you also liked Chihime's POV.**

_gogo bananas: I like the way you set up Inosuke for some real good character development. Still, how are you gonna even out Zenitsu._

**I set him up, but now we start actually digging into it and triggering some changes. As for Zenitsu, again, wait and see. He's far from done yet.**

**And with that, we're done. This should put the whole thing over fifteen thousand words when all is said and done. Like always, don't forget to review so you can get them replied at the end of next chapter. Good day, afternoon or night for y'all, Sky signing out.**


	24. Back on Their Feet

Zenitsu Agatsuma woke up as the sun shone through his window, but even then as he opened his eyes, he didn't move in the slightest, lying on his bed with his gaze set in the ceiling. Silently, he raised up his left hand as he did every morning, seeing the bandaged appendage and narrowing his eyes before beginning to tear off said bandages, knowing he'd have to change them afterwards anyway, and by the time he unwrapped his whole hand and was met with its sight, he was able to indeed confirm to himself once again that his three fingers, pinkie; ring and middle, were still all missing. It was bizarre just looking at it, seeing a part of himself permanently gone, to the point where he had to remind himself of it every morning when he woke up. Even now he didn't know exactly how he should even feel about the fact that he was quite literally missing a part of himself, but it was, in fact, a very hard thing not to focus on while going about the day, and more often than not he'd let it take over his thoughts entirely. He'd realized already that, because of it, his options seemed to have suddenly been vastly limited. He was never that strong to begin with, so how was he supposed to swing a sword effectively with just a hand and a half…?

The most surreal part of it all though was that he didn't even fully remember the fight that cost him so much of his hand. There were flashes and glimpses of him fighting that demon with Inosuke, but other than meeting him and much later losing his hand, he really couldn't say how most of that fight had gone down nor at which point Inosuke had even appeared there. Either way, he knew he'd bitten way more than he could chew. A guy like him could never beat a Lower Moon. He probably lost them in some stupid way too, which almost made him glad he couldn't really remember that detail, but was luckily saved by Inosuke before it could get much worse. He'd wanted to thank the boy since they got back, but hadn't seen him around as of lately.

In the end, maybe this was all for the best. He was never fit to be a Demon Slayer anyway, so better get out with a few fingers lost than killed. Too cowardly, too talentless, too weak…but the thought that he never would be able to give his Gramps a worthy successor made him feel ashamed. He knew Kaigaku would make a better Pillar than he ever could though, but he felt as if he'd come so far…it was hard letting go of a goal he'd been so convicted of pursuing, despite his weaknesses and fears, he always thought if he pushed enough, he'd be able to get there…now though, it seemed as things were bound to end like this, if not even worse. He knew he should be thankful for surviving that ordeal, only losing a few fingers in the process, but try as he might the thought that the tale he'd lived through so far had such a miserable ending still left a bitter taste in his mouth, one he wasn't sure would ever really fade away.

Day after day, it seemed like he was getting more and more used to the idea of leaving the Corps altogether. Not to say that he wasn't still upset by it, but as time went by it began cementing itself as his only possible choice here other than persisting blindly and getting killed, "_…damn. I really thought I could get farther than this._" He thought, sitting up in bad while staring at his hand with a bitter smile, sighing then as he lowered his hand, "_So much for becoming a capable Demon Slayer, eh Tanjiro…?_"

Just as he thought this though, his acute hearing caught onto a sound coming from outside, someone grunting while loud footsteps approached before someone cannonballed themselves right through his window, scaring the hell out of him. The cannonballing figure would roll on landing and rise triumphantly amidst the broken glass left by his flashy entrance, at which point Zenitsu would finally recognize the person's blue hair and bare chest, "….Inosuke? What are you doing?"

Inosuke stopped then and turned to him as if just then noticing the blond's presence in the room. As he did so, his demeanor would immediately change, the boy's eyes only meeting his own for a moment before drifting down to the ground, a hand raised to scratch at the side of his head awkwardly, "...I came to see how you were doing, idiot." He muttered even the namecalling being halfhearted, "What else would it be?"

"Oh...I guess you're right." He said with a small, weak laugh while staring down himself at his lap. "You don't need to worry about that...I'm sure you've got better stuff to do."

Glancing up at him slightly, Inosuke's lips bent into a frown before he hesitantly approached the edge of his bed, "Well, either way I'm here anyway, so I might as well check." He told the boy with a rather forced shrug, "So...how are you doing, really?"

Zenitsu looked up at him for a moment in slight surprise only to have his gaze averted by Inosuke looking away, but he quickly narrowed his eyes, staring down at his maimed hand, "...not that well, to be honest." He admitted, "Most of my hand is just...gone. I can't even remember what happened properly. It's hard to even wrap my mind around it"

Hearing that, Inosuke blinked in confusion, "You don't...remember it?"

The blond boy shook his head, "I recall arriving there and meeting with the demon, I have some brief glimpses of us fighting it together and I remember looking at my hand and realizing my fingers were missing, but that's all." He looked up at Inosuke then with a small smile, "I know you were the one who got me out of there though. I never really got the chance to thank you for that, Inosuke, but if it wasn't for you I'd have died for sure."

The blue-haired boy widened his eyes, surprised for a moment, only for that to give in to a more somber expression, "...yeah, well..." He hesitated, but went on regardless, "That's...not exactly what happened."

A confused Zenitsu raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean...?"

"...I didn't save you, Zenitsu. I was the reason you lost your fingers in the first place." Inosuke looked down shamefully, "I was arrogant...tried to take the demon down by myself instead of working together, and you were the one who had to protect me, fight him alone when I got injured. I know for a fact that if we'd kept working together, we could've killed the bastard, but because of me everything went to shit..."

There was a sudden pause then once Inosuke finished his confession, his gaze remaining down while Zenitsu stared at him silently with a poker face, before eventually breaking the silence with a sigh before speaking, "You're wrong. This isn't your fault, Inosuke." He stated, causing the formerly boar-headed-boy to stare up in a mixture of surprise and confusion at this response, "Going up that mountain was my choice. I always knew I might get hurt or even killed, but I did it anyway. I know I'm not the bravest guy, but I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to one of you and me not ever knowing if being there could've made the difference. I was the one who ran into that Lower Moon in the first place, but you were the one who jumped in to help me. Sure, you made mistakes, and in the end we lost, but somehow you still dragged me back down the mountain despite being even more hurt than myself at the time. You've got nothing to blame yourself for."

"...so you're not angry at me?" Inosuke asked, still somewhat confused by the blond not being more upset about all this.

"No...I'm not angry. I'm upset, but it isn't at you." Zenitsu admitted with a small, bitter smile, raising his maimed hand and closing his thumb and index into the closest thing to a fist he could make, "I really hoped I could make it far as a Demon Slayer, even when I knew I wasn't all that suited for it. I wanted to give gramps a worthy succesor...but I won't be the one." He sighed, "It's hard, but sooner or later I'll just have to accept that this is for the best. I could've really died back then, so really, I should be feeling lucky to even be alive. I really wish I could've gone further than I did...but in the end, I guess I'm just weak after all."

Inosuke suddenly froze in his spot then, "What...what did you just say...?"

It was Zenitsu's turn to be confused then, "Uh...whatcha mean?"

His reaction was not really something the blond expected, but on retrospective, it shouldn't be that unusual for someone like Inosuke. The blue-haired boy suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Zenitsu by the hem of his shirt and dragging him off his sitting position in the bed and up to eye level, looking absolutely livid as he locked eyes with the shocked boy, "You're not weak!" He exclaimed in between gritted teeth, "You're strong! Stronger than me, you fucker! You were fighting that demon par on par, cutting him again and again when I barely ever got a decent hit in! Hell, you were moving so fast I could barely even see you! I had to push myself to just keep pace, but you didn't even look winded! That's why I tried to take that bastard down because I realized I was falling behind you! And even then, you still saved me from getting chopped in half and went on to nearly cut off his head by yourself! If your sword hadn't broken right then, you'd still have your fingers and the Lower Moon Demon would be dead. So don't you DARE call yourself weak!" Inosuke finished off by pushing the still surprised boy back down onto his bed.

Zenitsu could only stare in shock at Inosuke who was breathing heavily between gritted teeth after his outburst. He really didn't seem to be lying, nor did he have any reason to. It was completely unlike him to admit even Tanjiro was stronger than himself, let alone him. The blond really couldn't remember the fight itself too well, so it was hard to even deny what he was saying. But could it really be that he had really done all that Inosuke described, "So...you really mean...that I...?"

He couldn't even finish wording that question before there was the sound of a throat being cleared, earning both the boys' attention as they both turned to the door to see Tanjiro just kind of awkwardly standing there, "Uh...am I interrupting something...?"

This immediately shifted the focus as the two boys stared in surprise at the presence of the third one. Zenitsu had heard from Aoi that Tanjiro was dealing with the aftermath of the mission even worse than himself, barely even sleeping or eating since coming back. The few glimpses he'd gotten of him roaming the mansion in the last few days supported him, as he looked downright awful. He felt sorry for his friend but didn't feel confident enough to approach him when he himself was still trying to come to terms with his own problems. But there he was regardless, looking far better than the previous glimpses had hinted he was. Inosuke's equally astonished looking face also told him the blue-haired boy was having similar thoughts.

"Uh...no. We're just talking." Zenitsu finally spoke once he'd gotten over his surprise, "You can come in."

Tanjiro nodded, obviously noticing their reaction as he seemed somewhat uncomfortable with their stares, but regardless stepped into the room and towards the bed. He'd only get so far before he had to address the fact that Inosuke was just standing there staring at him blankly, more so even than Zenitsu who at least tried to disguise it. He would turn towards the wild boy to meet his unblinking stare briefly, "Uh...you alright there, Inosuke?"

Hearing his own name, Inosuke broke out of his daze and seemed to suddenly go back to his normal self, "Of course I am! Much better than you, Donjiro!" He cackled, "Don't think I'll be falling behind just cause I'm still recovering, you hear?! There are more ways to train than just pushing your body!" With that declaration, he would run off and jump his way out of yet another window, also breaking it in the process.

"...that guy never changes." Zenitsu straightfacedly noted.

"I don't know...I feel like there was something different about him." Tanjiro admitted, staring through the window almost curiously for a moment before turning his attention back to the blond Demon Slayer, "But anyway...I came here to see you, Zenitsu. How are you doing after...well, you know..."

Zenitsu pursed his lips before quietly raising his mangled hand to eye level, "...yeah, I know." He sighed, closing it into a half-fist, "It's hard, but..." He narrowed his eyes, thinking back to what Inosuke had said, "...for the first time in a while, I'm starting to think I might be able to deal with this."

"That's...very good to hear." He said earnestly, "I'm...sorry I didn't come to see you earlier. I didn't know if I could even help but I should've still-"

"Stop that." Zenitsu interrupted him with a shake of his head, "I know I wasn't the only one affected by the mission to Natagumo in some way or another...but clearly you guys, are already getting back up from that. I can't stay too far behind either, now can I?"

"...I did have some help." Tanjiro vaguely stated, "Still, I am surprised to see you dealing with this so well, Zenitsu."

"Well...initially, I thought this would be all about accepting my new condition and knowing my limitations." Zenitsu admitted, before frowning slightly in thought, "But...I'm starting to think this might not be as big a dealbreaker as I first thought." He turned towards his friend then, "Tell me something, Tanjiro, and be honest...did you really mean it when you told me I was strong?"

Hearing this, the red-clad boy narrowed his eyes but nodded honestly. "I did. And I still believe in that." He restated firmly, "You have loads of potential in you, Zenitsu, and once you fully accept that I doubt anyone will be able to hold you down."

Zenitsu nodded, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes before opening them again staring straight ahead, "I knew you'd say that, but it's still good to hear. You don't know just how much those words meant to me, Tanjiro." He told his friend, "In my toughest moments as a Demon Slayer...well...those I remember, anyway...I always used that for inspiration. I couldn't believe in myself, I was too weak, too cowardly, so I always used someone else's faith to drive me forward..." He glanced down at his maimed hand, but only briefly before turning his gaze to his good one, and clenching that into a fist, "...but I think it's time I start believing in myself for a change."

Upon that declaration of change, Tanjiro looked at him in surprise for a moment, before his expression suddenly contorted and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself, much to Zenitsu's evident confusion. He looked wordlessly at the red-haired boy waiting until he finished laughing while staring on silently in wait for an explanation, "Sorry...sorry.." Tanjiro apologized once he managed to control himself, "It's just that...I came here to try and cheer you up. I was pretty down myself up until recently and I'm trying to figure some stuff out still...but now that I think about it, even with that hand, I don't think I've ever seen you looking better, Zenitsu." He said earnestly, "And I couldn't help but find funny that despite all that, it took you this long to realize just how strong you are."

Zenitsu at first seemed surprised, but soon let out a small chuckle himself. Not at the irony of the situation, but that even now Tanjiro could still make him feel bashful with his compliments, "Well, to be honest, I also had some help of sorts..." He admitted in reference to his earlier talk with Inosuke before turning back to Tanjiro somewhat awkwardly a moment later., "...uh...do you really think I look that good?"

Tanjiro opened a small smile, "You already know I do, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I do..." He said with a small smile himself. Tanjiro was not wrong. He did feel better, better than he had in a very long time. More comfortable in his own skin, maybe. Inosuke hadn't lied, and though he couldn't remember what exactly had happened back then, he had somehow fought toe to toe with a Lower Moon Demon. Maybe he wasn't as worthless as he thought, and if that was really the case, Zenitsu wouldn't be letting a few missing fingers stop him from finding out just how far he could go.

* * *

About half an hour later was when Aoi Kanzaki would enter that very same room as she usually did to check on Zenitsu's healing hand and change his bandages, but would be surprised to find it empty. In the last few days, this hadn't happened once, as she would more often than not have to drag the despondent boy out of bed just so she could change the sheets later on the day. It was where he spent the most time on since returning from the mission, just lying on his bed and staring thoughtfully at the ceiling, so to see it empty so early was odd, even if she expected him to be awake by then.

What's more, for whatever reason, both the windows in the room were broken with glass splattered across the floor. Her shoulders hung down and she sighed before she walked off the room to go get a broom to sweep away the broken shards of glass from the floor. As she turned around a corner on her way to the utility closet though, Aoi would unexpectedly bump into a tall figure, stumbling back for a moment before looking up to see a tall boy with a scar across his face looking down in her with slight surprise, his growing mohawk, hanging down to the side.

"Oh...sorry, Genya. I didn't see you there." She apologized before taking note of the fact that, alongside wearing his Demon Slayer uniform, but also having a small bag slung across his shoulder, "Uh...are you going somewhere?"

"It's fine," Genya replied somewhat quietly, averting his gaze from hers and instead fixed it on the wall, "And...yeah, I'm going out demon hunting again. Staying here waiting for the Pillar Meeting is too nerve-wracking, so I figured I should distract myself a bit. "

"I see," Aoi said before pausing, "Uh...you wouldn't have happened to see Zenitsu today, no? I usually come to check on him around this time, but today I found his room empty..."

"Sorry, no..." The tall boy apologized, but after a moment added, "...uh...although...I did see Tanjiro today walking around. He looked much better than last time I saw him, and he did mention he was on his way to see Zenitsu."

"Is that so...?" She muttered to herself, surprised to hear that considering the wreck Tanjiro had been in the last few days. Well, it was good news at least, and now she had a clue on where Zenitsu had disappeared to as well, "I guess I'll ask Tanjiro if I see him. Thanks, Genya. And good luck with your demon hunting."

Genya just gave her a half nod and mumbled something intelligible before quickly walking off, _"...for such a mean-looking guy, he sure can act like a dork._" Aoi thought to herself while taking another corner to reach the utility closet, of which she took out a broom and a dustpan. Upon making her way back to the room, she would get on with sweeping up the glass, all the while thinking silently about what Genya had told her, what with Tanjiro having gone to see Zenitsu, and looking a lot better himself. She hoped whatever he had to say had served to cheer the blond up too and, hopefully, that was the reason his room was empty at the moment.

Once she'd finished sweeping up all the glass and threw it away, she proceeded to take the trash out, making her way outside the mansion. As she did so though, throwing out the many shards of glass in a bag, something would catch Aoi's attention from the corner of her eye. Something which, once she turned to look at it fully, had her standing staring at it for a few confused seconds before she hesitantly began approaching the source of her confusion.

Sitting over a rock, with closed eyes and a meditative position complete with both hands lying open over his knees with his index fingers touching his thumb was...Inosuke? Aoi had seen Genya or Tanjiro meditating before, but it seemed very unlike the wild boy to do this kind of training, "Uh...Inosuke?"

Hearing his name, the blue-haired boy blinked his eyes open, seemingly breaking him out of his trance...though after a moment with him staring at her drowsily, Aoi realized it looked more like he was on the verge of falling asleep when she called for him, "Eh? Yeah, what is it, pigtails? Can't you see I'm trying to focus here?"

Aoi grunted quietly at the annoying albeit not inaccurate nickname, "And what are you doing exactly?"

"Duh, I'm obviously marinating, just like scarface and Gonpachiro do," Inosuke replied matter-of-factly. "It's supposed to clear your head and make you more focused."

"...you mean meditating?" The girl exasperatedly inquired.

"Eh, same difference." He shrugged.

Aoi sighed, wondering why she had even bothered asking, "Anyway, I was just wondering if you'd seen Zenitsu or Tanjiro today."

"I did actually." He replied, earning her attention, "I stopped by Zenitsu's room earlier today to talk to him, and, right before I left, Monjiro showed up to talk to him too."

"...you wouldn't have happened to enter and leave that room through the windows, did you?" She asked, all the while fearing she already knew the answer to that.

"Well, yeah!" He stated as if it was obvious, "How the hell else was I supposed to get there from the garden? This house is just way too confusing to move around in!"

"...why not make your way around and look for the door, or at least open the window to come in instead of bursting through it? Or at the very least used the same window you broke to get in to go out." She suggested, "I'm the one who has to clean up those messes and have those windows replaced after all."

Inosuke looked at her annoyedly and opened his mouth as if about to tell her to get off his back, but before he could do that, he paused, almost as if catching himself. He looked down with a hard gaze for a moment before hesitantly speaking, "...I'm sorry. I didn't think before I acted and I gave you trouble because of that." He apologized through gritted teeth.

Though it wasn't exactly an honest apology, more so sounding like something the blue-haired boy had to force out of his throat, Aoi was still very surprised to hear this out of Inosuke. The meditation was odd enough, but to see the normally confrontative boy swallowing his pride and muster an apology, even if a half-hearted one, really caught her off guard. Getting over her momentary surprise though, she smiled, "It's fine, Inosuke. Just try and think before you act next time, okay?"

He frowned slightly when she said that, but nodded, "Yeah...I will."

"Anyway, I still have some choirs to do around the house, so I might as well leave you to your meditation." She said, before beginning to walk off, leaving Inosuke behind as he slumped his shoulders, watching her go for a moment before groaning and returning to his meditation.

Aoi meanwhile walked off feeling strangely glad at the interaction. Inosuke seemed to be doing well too, as him trying to meditate was undoubtedly much better than the incessant training she'd seen him put himself through in the last few days. Plus, the fact he apologized for the broken windows was more than she ever expected of the boy. Whatever had happened to him, it had seemingly changed him for the better. Hopefully the same could be said for the two other boys.

With those thoughts swimming around in her mind, she'd begun going through the process of gathering the dirty laundry around the house to wash it outside, which was not really part of the routine, but she was finding reasons to go around the house in search of the other boys. So much so that, upon gathering up Zenitsu's dirty clothes and sheets, she'd make her way straight to Tanjiro's room in the hopes of finding him there. At this point, she was honestly curious to see how they were doing after her brief meeting with Inosuke.

She reached the door and unhesitantly slid it open, half-expecting already the room to be empty, but would be somewhat surprised when she was met with Tanjiro standing with his bare back turned her in the middle of the room as he finished getting dressed in his kimono. Hearing the door opening though, the boy would turn around to look at the girl, "Uh? Oh...hey there, Aoi. Is...something the matter?" He inquired, somewhat confused as to why she had burst into his room.

Aoi paused, feeling her face heating up in shame at bursting into the boy's room like this, especially with him getting dressed in there, "Uh...I...sorry," She apologized, bowing with her head, "I was here to pick up the laundry and didn't think anyone was here...I should've knocked."

"Don't worry about it," He told her reassuringly before kneeling down to grab his haori left in the corner of the room, "I was about to get going anyway."

She nodded, a bit less nervous seeing as he didn't seem to care too much about it, thus allowing herself to step into the room, making her way to his bed to take out the sheets, "Alright...where are you going exactly, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I've just been called out to the Ubuyashiki estate by Lord Kagaya." Tanjiro admitted, picking up his katana from its position against the wall and beginning tying it to his waist, "Apparently, he wants me to give him the details to the mission in person."

"You're gonna go meet the Corps Leader?" She asked, blinking, "And...are you sure you wanna do that with that dirty haori of yours?"

"It's the only one I have," He retorted with a shrug, "Besides, I really doubt he'll notice it."

"Suit yourself." She said with just the slight bit of judgment in her tone. In spite of that, she could tell by now that Genya was right, Tanjiro also seemed to be doing a lot better, and she could do little but wonder why. As she finished picking up the laundry though, she'd turn back to the boy, "So, I heard you went to see Zenitsu earlier..."

"Yeah...I kinda felt bad I've held off on it for so long, to be honest." He admitted somewhat awkwardly, "But...turns out I was worrying over nothing. I'd never have expected for Zenitsu to recover from something like that so quickly, let alone with the kind of determination I saw in him."

"...really?" Aoi asked, turning to look at him fully while holding the laundry basket. Just like she had heard about Tanjiro from Genya, she was now hearing about Zenitsu from Tanjiro, and it made her twice as curious as before. "Wait, what do you mean with 'determination'?"

"For as long as I've known Zenitsu, he always had this inferiority complex about himself." Tanjiro told her as he opened the door leading outside from his room, walking with Aoi along the passageway on the outside of the manor, "I've always told him he underestimates himself, but I don't think he ever truly believed it himself. When I went to see him today though...for the first time since I met him, he seemed honestly confident in himself."

"...is that so? He really didn't seem that different yesterday." Aoi recalled, "I wonder what happened to him between now and then...?"

"...uh, actually, I think Inosuke of all people talked to him," Tanjiro confessed, to which Aoi look at him in disbelief, "Yeah, I know. But they were talking before I got there, and Inosuke was getting pretty intense. I wasn't able to make out much of it, but whatever it was, it must've really riled Zenitsu up."

"Huh...I guess that does make some sense." The girl admitted, "I talked to Inosuke myself just a while ago, and he seemed somewhat different too. He actually said he was sorry for breaking through those windows, which is very unlike him. Though..." Aoi turned to look at him then, "To be honest, you're acting very differently today yourself, Tanjiro."

Tanjiro blinked in surprise at being called out, looking away somewhat sheepishly as he scratched his neck awkwardly, "Well...I did actually talk to someone myself too." He admitted, looking down at the ground with a bittersweet smile, "And it made me realize I've wasted enough time feeling sorry for myself already."

Aoi nodded slowly, knowing better than to push too much on the topic itself. Whatever had upset Tanjiro for so long, it was clear to her that he was still dealing with it to some extent. There was one part that made her too curious not to ask though..."...'someone', huh?" She inquired almost innocently.

Tanjiro stared straight at the ground for a few silent seconds before suddenly staring to the side, "Ah, well, gotta get going. It's not polite to keep the Corps leader waiting, after all." He said evasively, walking quickly off the pathway and towards the estate's gates, soon upping his pace into a sprint, "I'll see you later, Aoi!"

"Sure...see you later." Aoi murmured with a small frown as Tanjiro ran through the gates, taking a hard left and disappearing. She let out a small sigh before making her way back inside the manor, going back to laundry duty as she went through the other rooms in the mansion picking up dirty sheets and clothes. As she underwent this though, she really couldn't help but wonder curiously about the burning question she had been left with. She wasn't normally so nosey with other people's business, but Aoi really couldn't help but wonder who in the world could have penetrated the thick wall that was Tanjiro and gotten him out of the dreadful state he was in the last few days. This was when she paused and realized she had gotten so busy talking with Tanjiro, she had forgotten to ask him about Zenitsu's whereabouts. Groaning, she shook her head, figuring she was bound to see him again around the house sooner or later, and with that, she went on with her chores

As she finished gathering up the laundry and made her way back outside to wash it, she'd step out into the garden and would immediately notice Kanao standing there, smiling peacefully as a butterfly landed on her outstretched finger. Pausing for a moment, Aoi set down her basket of dirty laundry before beginning to walk towards her, thinking she might as well ask, "Hey, Kanao," She greeted the girl, drawing her attention as the butterfly took flight from her finger, "Did you happen to see Zenitsu around today? He wasn't in his room..."

Kanao shook her head as she lowered her arm, "Sorry, I haven't seen him today either."

"Ah, alright, I see." Aoi muttered with a small frown, "I really should've asked Tanjiro back there."

Hearing this, Kanao blinked in surprise, her composure unexpectedly broken as her cheeks reddened slightly, "T-Tanjiro...? Did you...talk to him?"

Aoi raised an eyebrow at her friend's odd demeanor. She, of course, had noticed how much Kanao had been changing lately in relation to accepting her emotions, which was not only something she appreciated but often tried encouraging as well. However, she couldn't say she'd ever seen the girl get like that, "Yeah...I met him when he was on the way out to go meet with Lord Kagaya..." Aoi explained, but couldn't take her attention off Kanao's change in complexion, "...are you alright, Kanao? You look a bit off..."

"I-it's nothing..." The Tsuguko reassured her, visibly trying to regain some control over herself then.

Seeing Kanao acting odd though suddenly reminded her of how Tanjiro himself had acted odd earlier as well when she inquired about whoever talked to him. And Kanao's reaction came just after she mentioned Tanjiro too, so at this point, it was just about adding two and two together and getting the conclusion, "You didn't happen to go talk to Tanjiro recently yourself, did you?"

The question evidently caught Kanao off guard just when she was managing to recover her bearings, the surprise she showcased making it pretty hard to deny it, "...did he tell you something?"

"No...he was closed off like always." Aoi told her, struggling to hide the mix of surprise and satisfaction she felt at her guess paying off, "But he did look a lot better than when I last saw him."

"Really?" Kanao asked, opening a small smile, "I'm glad to hear that."

"Still...I have to admit, I didn't expect you of all people was the one to get through him." Aoi admitted, "Tanjiro's like a brick wall with his feelings, after all."

Kanao shook her head, "It wasn't that tough. All I had to do was be honest with him." She looked over at her friend then, "Besides, you were the one who asked me to go talk to him in the first place, didn't you?"

"Oh...that's right, I did." Aoi recalled, "But...I didn't honestly expect you to go and do it. Turns out though you changed a lot more than I thought, Kanao."

"...thank you, Aoi." She replied, recognizing the compliment, but still pursing her lips, her mind seemingly wandering elsewhere with what Aoi had said.

The blue-haired girl then nodded, "Anyway...I have to get back to my chores. Laundry isn't gonna do itself." She said, nodding at Kanao before she turned around and started walking back towards the house where she had left her basket at.

Before she could get too far Kanao would pause before calling out to her, "Hey, Aoi..." She called out slowly.

Aoi turned around as her name was called, "Yeah?"

"I've...been having trouble with some emotions lately...and I can't even put a finger on what it is I'm feeling." Kanao admitted hesitantly, "What do you call it...when you can't stop thinking about someone and you really wish you could be close to them...?"

Hearing that, Aoi paused for a moment before her shoulders relaxed, her lips changing into a knowing smile, "Ah...I see what's happening here."

Kanao blinked, her cheeks reddening further, "Y-you do...?"

"Of course," The girl said convincedly, "It's only natural that you'd miss Lady Shinobu after she's spent so long away! She is your older sister, after all. I miss her too, but I'm sure we'll get to see her again soon enough."

Kanao frowned slightly, but nodded, "Yeah...I see. Thanks, Aoi."

"Anytime." She replied, glad to have been able to help a friend as she picked up her basket of laundry and continued going along her way without noticing the troubled Kanao glancing at her as she went. Aoi felt satisfied with having her curiosity sated and her guess having proven correct. She knew better though than to ask Kanao about the specifics of that conversation. That part was really between them to know.

Regardless, she carried on her basket of laundry over to the back of the manor where the washing tank was. She then took off her nurse dress as not to get it wet and rolled her Slayer uniform's sleeves up to her elbow before getting to work on the laundry. She would only get about halfway through with that task when she was distracted by a loud sound followed to what seemed like glass shattering. Aoi grunted annoyedly as she quickly got up and walked towards the direction of the sound, waving her hands dry. Her immediate assumption was that Inosuke had forgotten about his earlier promise and broken through yet another window to get in the house.

As she took a corner around the garden though her initial assumption was proven wrong, and the sight she was met with made her stop in surprise for a moment. Instead of Inosuke, it was Zenitsu, the very same she had been looking for all morning. He was standing there, holding a wooden sword with his good hand, with his gaze set on a glass bottle set atop a rock some twenty feet away from him. He took a deep breath and slid a foot back as he lowered the bokken, getting into a stance with his worse hand holding onto the sword as if it was sheathed in a scabbard.

A moment later, he'd move in a blur, leaving sparks of electricity in his wake and, at the same time, the loud sound of glass shattering rang out again as the bottle wobbled atop the rock but refused to fall, having been broken clearly at the base of the bottle's neck. Zenitsu, meanwhile, had reappeared with his back now facing the rock some distance away, holding down the wooden sword in the same sheathed position as before despite his lack of a scabbard.

"You know, you really shouldn't be breaking bottles in the garden." Aoi said as she approached the blond boy, causing him to turn over at her, "You won't be the one sweeping this mess up afterward, will you?"

"Oh...hey, Aoi. I'm sorry about the bottles, but it really isn't that bad." Zenitsu told her, walking up to the rock where he'd placed the bottles, "It was a training exercise gramps used to have me do to get down the preciseness of the Breath of Thunder's firm form. I broke a lot of bottles back in the day trying to get it down. Good news, though..." he knelt down next to the rock and picked up the bottle's neck, broken cleanly without shattering into another piece, "I did get pretty good at it."

Aoi raised an eyebrow, admittedly impressed with how cleanly he was able to break that bottle with a bokken of all things, "Okay...that's not too bad, actually." She admitted, "Still, you still shouldn't be out there breaking bottles around like some bored kid."

"Yeah...sorry, about that." He apologized with a bashful smile, scratching the back of his head. "You're right, you should've asked you about it first."

"Darn right, you should." She huffed with crossed arms, holding up the tough facade, her lips holding tight for another moment before she gave up with a sigh, looking at him in relief, "...I'm really happy to see you like this, Zenitsu."

Zenitsu was caught off guard by such an earnest statement following so quickly after a scolding. "Oh...thanks, I guess." He replied as his shoulders relaxed, "I mean...I really couldn't stay down forever, could I?"

"Well, I really thought for a while you might be considering quitting as a Demon Slayer because of your hand." Aoi admitted, "I did hear you were doing better today, but I didn't expect to find you training..."

"...to be honest, for a while I did consider quitting." The blond boy admitted, taking a seat by the rock as he set aside the broken bottle with its neck by the ground next to a similarly broken bottle, probably the one she heard shattering earlier. "But...I got some things put into perspective today. For the longest time, I thought was just the screw-up...the black sheep, even when I was with Tanjiro and the others." He looked up, donning a small smile, "I'm starting to think though that things aren't really that simple. I've survived this far, and while I know luck was a big part of it, it might not have been just that."

Aoi nodded slowly, as she could tell by now what Tanjiro had meant when he said Zenitsu seemed more confident. Not just with what he said, but his very expression as he looked up at the sky seemed calmer than before, maybe less burdened by his own insecurities. "_He really does look a lot different than when I first met him...he almost seems more mature._"

He must've noticed her staring though because Zenitsu eventually turned over and met her gaze, "Something wrong, Aoi?"

She blushed briefly, drawing her gaze away, "No, of course not...I was just thinking..." Aoi bit onto her lower lip, having no real response to that question that didn't save face until her eyes landed on a couple few bokken sprawled out at the floor by the step leading down into the garden, probably gathered by Zenitsu and, without even thinking, she spoke, "...that if you're really gonna practice, you should at least get a partner!" She said decidedly, hustling over to the wooden katana and picking one up, "You won't get anywhere training alone like that!"

"Uh...really?" He asked, somewhat surprised by her offer to train with him.

"Of course! I was trained as a Demon Slayer too, you know?" Aoi responded, figuring laundry would have to wait now that she had gotten into this. Still, she was not as hesitant to wield a sword again around the boys since she'd helped Tanjiro with his own training.

Zenitsu opened a small smile as he got up, holding up his bokken with his good hand, "Alright then. Don't hold back on me just because you're my nurse, okay?"

"I promise any damage I do, I'll fix just as quickly." She declared in return, only half-jokingly as she raised her own blade and got into the Breath of Water stance she had been trained in.

Raising his bokken for a moment, Zenitsu would move at her quickly, bringing his weapon down and forcing Aoi to block it, with the two quickly locking in a back and forth of wooden sword strikes. His own handicap seemed to favor her despite him being the stronger of the two. They both got their respective hits in, Zenitsu at some point knocking her off her feet with a sweeping slash to her legs while Aoi, in turn, used the quick stabbing techniques she'd learn when trying to master the Breath of Water's seventh style so long ago to pierce past his guard and get a hit in on his chest. After about half an hour of sparring, both would find themselves fairly tired as they sat together by the steps leading down to the garden.

"You seem pretty up to date with your kenjutsu for someone who doesn't practice all that often, Aoi." Zenitsu noted, adjusting aside his fringe from his sweat-drenched brow while his other hand rested the bokken tip first onto the ground, "We never did really spar properly before, but I didn't expect it to be that hard to get through you..."

"You're being kind...I was pushing myself just to try and keep up with you." Aoi told him as she panted, clearly the more tired of the two., "Though to be honest, I didn't expect you to fight like that either, especially with your hand."

Zenitsu nodded, raising his maimed hand and gazing at it thoughtfully, "I thought it'd be a lot harder too." He confessed, "It bothers me, sure. It's weird to hold a sword with both hands and still think something is missing, but at the same time...something else about it felt different too. A good different."

She raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

He stopped, scratching his head as if trying to put the right words for it before sighing defeatedly, "...I'm not sure." He told her, "But...I guess I'm only as strong as I think I am...does that make any sense?"

"...I don't think so." Aoi admitted, causing him to slump over slightly in frustration before she drew his attention again, "But...I really do envy you, Zenitsu. You might think you're a coward or that you're weak, but you still always went out as a Demon Slayer and put your life on the line regardless. I couldn't even bring myself into taking that step."

Aoi kept her gaze down while Zenitsu stared at her silently, taking a couple of seconds to process all that before finally giving her an answer, "...you really shouldn't though. Any idiot with a sword and a strong enough death wish can go out and try to slay demons, why would a great medic like yourself envy that?"

"You're not an idiot with a death wish, Zenitsu. Well...okay, you are a bit of an idiot sometimes." She said, truthfully but nonetheless coldly, though aside from slumping his head somewhat dejectedly, he did take it fairly well, "...though you are getting better." She added, thus regaining his attention, "Still, you really don't have a death wish. You hate the danger you're put in, but you keep at it anyway, even with your hand like that you still don't wanna give up. That kind of perseverance is really admirable, Zenitsu. Especially for someone who couldn't bear to even try walking that path after my first experience with it."

"Now you're the one flattering me." He said with a small laugh, "The only reason I didn't do the same thing you did is cause I'm not nearly capable enough myself to become a medic myself. I'm better off as a mediocre Demon Slayer." She frowned slightly, hearing him beat himself up again, but it turns out he wasn't done speaking, "That said...I don't wanna be mediocre forever. I wanna be the kinda guy who steps into a fight without letting his fears control him. Someone confident enough of himself to draw his sword without worrying over pain or death. Someone...someone kinda like Tanjiro in that aspect."

Understanding his perspective a bit better now, Aoi relaxed. He still wasn't fully confident in himself, but he seemed to have a goal in sight driving him on. "Is that why you got back to training so quickly?"

"Yeah...kind of." Zenitsu responded, "I know no amount of sword training will make me control my emotions better, but I think I'll feel a lot safer once I know my own strength, a bit better. Besides..." He raised his bokken sideways, staring at it intently, "I really wanna see just how far I can go."

"…you really are something, you know that, Zenitsu?" Aoi said with a small smile, "Still, I should get back to my chores." She stated then, getting back up, "I'll be back a bit later to bandage that hand of yours. Oh, and if you need a sparring partner again, don't be afraid to call me."

"I wouldn't pass up the chance. You actually look pretty cute when you're trying to hit me." He noted before suddenly realizing what he had said and turning to Air awkwardly, who in turn was looking over at him in surprise with a blush on her face, "Uh…I…sorry. I know you don't like me saying that kinda stuff. It slipped out."

Getting over her momentary surprise, she breathed in, "It's fine. Don't worry about it." She told him, turning back and beginning to walk off. Though before she could get too far she stopped, glancing briefly at him over her shoulder and decided to add, "…besides, that one really wasn't half-bad. Keep practicing and you might get somewhere." She winked at him then, leaving him evidently flustered as she turned away and kept on walking, her cheeks somewhat flushed, but her smile wide after seeing the look on his face. It had definitely been well worth it. Besides, when in small doses, it wasn't all that bad being complimented by him...

* * *

Tanjiro was jogging through the narrow paths in the forest, keeping pace with his messager crow flying above him guiding the boy towards their destination, with Shiro's coloration making it almost hard to distinguish from a cloud from the boy's perspective. The path he'd taken was undoubtedly an odd one, but he followed it regardless. The Ubuyashiki Mansion, despite its relative proximity to the Butterfly Estate, was surprisingly well hidden, and fairly hard for anyone aside from the Pillars or the Messenger Crows specially trained to find it, it was very hard to locate. It made sense too, seeing as if it wasn't it'd be an obvious target for their demonic enemy to aim for.

Eventually, his crow would begin descending again, signalizing him that they were approaching their destination. Sure enough, in a few more minutes, he would see the large house in the distance and slow down his pace to a quick walk, Shiro flying off again once it realized its job to guide him was done. In little time, he would reach the Ubuyashiki Estate's gates, crossing them and finding himself on the large mansion serving as the main headquarters for the Demon Slayer Corps. It was his second time there, but he was nonetheless impressed by the sheer size of the thing.

As he looked around though, he'd catch onto an approaching smell, already recognizing it before its owner even spoke, "It's good to see you up and about again, Tanjiro." The feminine voice said, "Based on what I've heard, I thought that would take a lot longer."

He turned towards the voice's direction in acknowledgment, and saw the young woman standing by the door in her oversized haori with that usual, close-eyed, tepid smile of hers, "Shinobu," He greeted the Insect Pillar with a nod before pausing as he fully processed what she said, "Uh…how did you…?"

"You think I don't know what's going on in my own house? Those Kakushi running around the mansion aren't just there to tidy it, you know? " She asked, almost cheekily, "Besides, Lord Kagaya himself seems to have some vested interest on you, seeing as he told me to keep an eye on you. The only reason you're being summoned here today is that someone saw you and thought you looked a lot better than before."

"…well, that much is true." He admitted, though internally he felt his privacy had been somewhat violated there. Then again, nothing really came free, not even a free room at a luxurious mansion house, "Anyway, as you already know, I'm here to see him."

"Yes, of course. He's already waiting for you." Shinobu told him, turning around and motioning for him to follow, "Come, I'll take you to him." She made her way inside and Tanjiro followed, soon finding himself making his way through its corridors, which as he remembered were even more confusing than those in the Butterfly Estate. "So, how are things going back at the house? Since I've asked the Kakushi to focus on you, I haven't been able to keep track of everyone else as well as I wish I could."

"…so much for knowing what's going on in your house, no?" He quipped with a half-smile, one Shinobu quickly shut down once she stopped and turned to look him with a smile of her own, not the tepid one, but the kind that said 'you're in danger', which was enough to make Tanjiro reconsider his snark, "Uh…the girls in the mansion are fine, Aoi is the same as usual. Zenitsu and Inosuke seem to be recovering pretty well too, while Genya's already left on a mission earlier today. And Kanao…" He paused for a moment then, "…Kanao is probably doing the best there. She's really changed a lot from the emotionless girl she was when I met her."

"And that has a lot to do with your influence on her. You really ignited something fierce in her, Tanjiro." Shinobu told him as they continued moving, not knowing just how true that was, "I am even a bit ashamed to admit that, seeing as I too tried for the longest time to get her to come out of his shell, but I guess you managed to reach her in a way I never did. Despite that, I really am thankful for you giving her some motivation for change."

"You don't need to thank me for that. She was the one who did all the changing on her own, all I did was give her a push." Tanjiro replied, "Besides...she more than made up for it. Kanao really helped me get back on my feet after Natagumo."

"Did she now?" Shinobu asked, looking over in slight surprise, "Huh...it seems just yesterday that she barely had a hang on her emotions, now she's providing emotional support...she's come even further than I thought.

"Tell me about it..." He said in agreement as they then exited through a door in the inner gardens of the house, the same one where he'd sparred Giyu Tomioka in the first time he was there. In its center, by the pond, was Kagaya Ubuyashiki, gazing upwards with his blind eyes as if looking up at the sky peacefully, with a beautiful looking young woman with white hair wearing a light kimono patterned with flowers. As they approached the two, Shinobu would kneel before the Demon Slayer Corps leader and Tanjiro would follow in her gesture, "Shinobu, Tanjiro. Good to see you in such a lovely morning...well, figuratively speaking, of course." He said good-naturedly.

"Lord Kagaya, I brought him here as you asked," Shinobu responded, still kneeling down, "I also have some progress to report regarding the cure for the mutated humans..."

"Of course, I'll see to it soon. But if you will, could I get a moment in private with Tanjiro? There are some important matters we need to discuss." The man told her, turning his sightless gaze towards the boy in question.

The Insect Pillar nodded, "Of course." She said, shooting Tanjiro a brief glance before getting up and quickly making her way out as Kagaya then turned towards the white-haired woman.

"Amane, could you please leave us as well?" He requested, "I feel as if it would be more comfortable for him to talk if we were well and truly by ourselves."

The woman, apparently Amane, looked at him in worry, "Are you sure, dear? Will you be fine, being by yourself...?"

"Of course. Besides, I'm not really alone." He stated, motioning towards Tanjiro, "If I need help with anything, I know I have a reliable Demon Slayer by my side to aid me. Isn't that right, Tanjiro?"

Hearing his name be called, the boy nodded his head, "Yes, sir."

The woman looked at him worriedly for another moment before nodding hesitantly and making her way off as well, leaving the two of them on their lonesome to talk in private. "That is my wife," Kagaya explained to him once she was out of sight, "She worries a lot. I suppose its a given, with my condition and all that...but really, there isn't much of a point, worrying about it." He turned towards Tanjiro then, "You can get up now, by the way." The red-clad Demon Slayer nodded and did so as Kagaya continued, "I trust you already have an idea of why I called you here today."

"...did somebody tell you I was doing better and you finally decided to call me out on the late mission report?" Tanjiro took a wild guess.

In response, Kagaya chuckled, "You're right, but I take it from your tone you weren't all that appreciative of being observed like that." He noted, "I apologize for the measures taken, but I wanted you to come over to report what happened back in Natagumo Mountain as soon as possible. I already postponed the Pillar meeting for a whole week just so I could hear what you have to say before discussing it with the others. Still, I had no intention to invade your privacy, and I apologize if you feel like that was the case."

Tanjiro blinked in surprise at that, "You mean the sole reason behind the meeting being delayed is me staying quiet about the mission."

"Well, of course...surely you understand the weight of what happened back there, don't you?" He inquired, "It's not every day you find two Lower Moon Demons in the same place. Demonkind in general is not known for working together, let alone its upper echelons. Not to mention, according to what I heard from your teammates, the demon you pursued in special was a quite unusual one...'a demon that fought like a Demon Slayer' is how most described it, but only you pursued it past that initial encounter, isn't that right?"

Tanjiro took a deep breath, knowing this question was coming from the moment he was called to speak with the Demon Slayer's leader, and he'd mentally prepared himself to answer it to his best capabilities despite how uncomfortable just thinking about it made him, "...that's right. While everyone else was fighting the other demons I chased her all the way to the peak, and there I fought her. It's just like they said, she fought just like a Demon Slayer, swung her sword just like one, used breaths just like one..."

Kagaya nodded slowly, "Did you manage to slay her?"

"...it's complicated. Things ended in a stalemate." He said shortly, not adding further detail besides that.

Hearing that, the blind man would purse his lips worriedly, narrowing his eyes, "Tanjiro, I can see this topic perturbs you quite deeply," He noted, "but I need to know about this demon. If it's really still out there, it could pose a threat to many a Demon Slayer, we need to know as much we can about this demon to neutralize it in the near future still. Whatever happened to you in the mountain is not something you need to tell me. All I want is a clearer picture of this sword-wielding demon you've faced."

He stood there, in a moment of silence, staring down at the grass at his feet hard before something changed in his expression, a certain resolution that wasn't present here before, "...no. You're wrong." Tanjiro told the man, who in turn raised an eyebrow, but waited for the boy to elaborate, "This whole thing...it's my responsibility to some extent. I need to own up to it, even if it's the last thing I want to do."

Kagaya narrowed his eyes, but nodded again, "Very well. I'm listening."

And so, Tanjiro told him everything, all the way from the beginning in as much detail as he could. He started with them arriving at the mountain and his encounter with the first demon, how she whispered the name of 'Chihime' as she died. He told him of the Demon Slayers controlled by an unseen demon's threads, how they'd fought, and managed to free her only for the demon to appear and rip that away from them. He explained his anger, his attack, their brief clash, and all the odd feelings he felt at that moment and wouldn't understand until so much later. Then he went on to how he ran off up the mountain to chase after her, how he reached her at the peak and how they then fought. The hardest fight of his life, that was, having to contend with a being using the same kind of techniques as himself except with a near-immortal body whose overwhelming strength was only augmented by their swordsmanship and breathing. He recalled even her Breath Style, the 'Dance of the Blood Moon' as she'd called it, and how it seemed to oddly mirror his own. And then he got to the end. Masks were broken and with it came the realization. It was his sister, and all she did as he tried to chase her was strike him across the face and leave him down to watch her turning around and disappearing into those awful flames, leaving him behind to pick up his own pieces.

On the other end, Kagaya Ubuyashiki heard it all with very little change to his expression other than a nod encouraging him to continue or an eyebrow raised in curiosity from time to time. Finally, as Tanjiro finished telling his tale, the man would take a deep breath, "I see...so the sister you thought had been killed by Giyu has, in fact, turned into one of Kibutsuji's Lower Moon pawns...that does bring more questions than answers regarding her knowing a breathing style despite being untrained, but it is still quite an unenvious situation for a Demon Slayer to find themselves in. I truly am sorry for you, Tanjiro." He earnestly told the boy.

Tanjiro shook his head, "Don't be. Like I said, this is my responsibility. I'm the one who must deal with it." He restated.

Kagaya nodded at him, those blank eyes seeming to stare straight through him despite in truth not being able to see a thing, "And how exactly are you planning on doing that?"

Sighing, the boy stared down at the ground pensively, "...I'm not sure myself yet." He admitted, "She is a demon, I am a Demon Slayer. The only answer here should be obvious, but still..."

The leader of the Demon Slayer Corps turned his blind gaze at him with a thoughtful expression, seeming to consider something long and hard before his shoulders eventually slumped and he spoke again, "...killing your sister might not be your only option, you know?"

He looked up in surprise then, "What do you mean?"

"It's a longshot, but for many years there was a doctor who worked on reversing demonification and returning demons to human form." He explained, immediately earning Tanjiro's undoubtful attention with that statement alone, "Despite her being aware of and actively trying to avoid us, we of the Ubuyashiki Estate have been keeping track of her in secret for a long time. We've wanted to approach her for a while now in order to suggest a contribution in our efforts against the demonic threat, but her choice to distance herself from us has always caused us to be cautious in approaching her, afraid that if we made ourselves known she would run off again and we'd lose track of her again, perhaps permanently this time. However...if you were the one to do so, I have a feeling things might turn out differently than expected."

Tanjiro blinked, "Me? Why so?"

"You have certain traits that might appeal to our doctor enough for her to hear you out." Kagaya explained vaguely, "But be aware that what I am telling you has been kept secret even from my Pillars, for reasons that I believe you will understand better once you meet her in person. That is if you actually chose to accept this diplomatic mission I am offering..."

"Of course I do!" He stated without even an ounce of hesitation, "If there's even a faint chance of this helping me save Nezuko without killing her, I want to take it!"

Kagaya chuckled good-naturedly at the boy's enthusiasm, "I thought you would say as much." He admitted, before returning to the topic at hand, "The one you'll be looking for is a woman by the name of Tamayo, currently residing in the Asakusa district in Tokyo. The specificity of where though is unknown, so you will have to find her by yourself."

"Understood," Tanjiro said in affirmation, "Is there anything else I should know? I wish to leave for Asakusa as soon as we're finished here."

"Well, there is one thing." Kagaya told him with a finger raised, "For time being...we'll be keeping the information regarding your sister's identity between us for your sake. However, I cannot afford to leave my Pillars in the dark regarding something like a demon who fights like a Demon Slayer. I won't tell them about her relation to you, but I will not be able to prevent them or any other Demon Slayer who comes across her from exercising their duty. You do understand that, don't you?"

"Of course I do. I am already beyond grateful for the chance to solve this situation myself and all the help you've given me." He stated, bowing before the man, "I am indebted to you, Lord Kagaya."

"Your service in the Corps is more than enough payment, Tanjiro." The man told him in return, "When you do reach Asakusa though, I'd advise you to keep your Demon Slayer instincts under control. Try not to draw your blade unless it's an absolute necessity to do so, understand?"

Tanjiro was somehow confused at the rather odd order, seeing as there was no real reason for him to draw his blade unless in the face of a demon, and such a situation arising seemed unlikely in what Kagaya himself described as a diplomatic mission. Nonetheless, he just decided to agree and keep the warning in mind, "Yes, I understand."

"Very well, in that case, you are free to go." Kagaya dismissed him, at which Tanjiro bowed again before starting walking off. He would barely get out of the garden though before the man called again, "Oh, and Tanjiro?"

He turned around and looked over his shoulder, "Yeah?"

"I'd advise you to keep that dirty haori of yours on and those bandages off. It might affect your chances of finding her." He advised the boy with that peaceful smile of his, which caught him off guard causing the boy to mutter a quick 'yeah, got it' before scurrying off in slight embarrassment. Only when he was outside the inner gardens and back in the confusing corridors of the Ubuyashiki mansion did he muse to himself on how Aoi had been right in claiming he'd notice the dirty haori, but confusingly enough he seemed to approve of it. He didn't really understand that last confusing advice of his even after mulling it over in his head all the way up until he found a way out of the corridors and back out of the house. Regardless, he decided to follow it, and as he crossed the gates leading out of the Ubuyashiki Estate, he reached out for his forehead and undid the bandages covering his remodeled scar, dropping them by the ground and looking up to the sky with a deep breath.

"Alright then..." He muttered to himself, "Asakusa it is."

Kneeling down slightly, he entered a running position before shooting off at a quickened pace, soon enough disappearing amidst the trees as he made his way onwards to his new destination.

**A/N: Anotha day anotha dollar. So we end Chapter 24 of Branching Paths, where we finished setting our characters up for further development and left with the promise of a new arc in the end. I had some trouble with the title, as usual, but in the end I guess it fit the overall theme. I spent way too long on deciding whether or not to me the t in their capital or not and I'm ashamed to admit it.  
**

**We start off with Zenitsu, as promised last chapter, and him getting back on his feet. Even though I wanted to add this in last chapter, on retrospect it kind of works out well moving into this one since it builds upon the two previous characters we covered last chapter, namely Inosuke and Tanjiro, as well as leading into the next POV, which I'll get into a bit further down. Kimetsu no Yaiba never covered Zenitsu learning the fact that he was a secret badass and actually slew**** of demons while he was actually sleeping, I'm not even sure if he ever did, but this is something I'm gonna focus a lot more in here. Even though he doesn't understand it himself fully, he's begun putting the pieces together and realizes he's probably capable of a lot more he ever gave himself credit for.**

**That first POV also helps with showing off some of Inosuke's character after his conversation with Uzui has set in, how he admits Zenitsu is stronger than him was meant to show him beginning to overcome his own pride, even if it was in his own, very Inosuke-like way. Tanjiro there is more so meant to show Zenitsu's immediate reaction to that than anything, but I think it makes sense that he's there. At this point, the two of them are the closest among the Senses, so it only makes sense that Tanjiro would visit his closest friend as soon as he felt capable of. Though I think last chapter also makes it kinda obvious Kanao's relationship with him will be catching up pretty soon.**

**Moving on, there the middle portion, Aoi's POV. That was admittedly a last-minute addition of mine. I could've theoretically had Tanjiro mention to Zenitsu his meeting with Kagaya and jumped over to that, but seeing as we're gonna start next chapter already getting into the Asakusa Arc, it felt wrong not to catch up with the rest of the Senses before doing so. I chose Aoi in specific because it closes the circle I started at the beginning of last chapter by showing her perspective on how the three boys were doing on the aftermath of their mission to Natagumo, plus she's the closest I'll probably ever get to adding a "sixth sense" into the group, so I'd say its fine to give her some focus. **

**From there I went through each of the Senses in importance to her character. First is Genya, whose own development I had to delay a bit alongside the Pillar Meeting so my plans could flow better. I hope no one thinks I'm kicking him to the curb because I really want to come back and focus on his relationship with his brother further, but I do think things flow more smoothly if I take it a thing at a time, and handling the development of three characters at once already cost me two massive chapters, so we'll leave him be for now. **

**Then there's Inosuke, which just allows me to have him be Inosuke a bit more, but also show him swallowing his pride again and cementing how he's taking his first steps in his development. We go onto Tanjiro, which really is more a means of establishing where he's going and why, among some other things, but also get a bit of a look at his reaction to the talk he had with Kanao on the previous night. Speaking of which, she's next on the list, which again is a chance to get her reaction to that same talk. Writing an emotionally clueless, lovestruck teenager is kinda fun. I can see why so many people like to do it.**

**Lastly, we have Zenitsu, and since I already established Zenitsu and Aoi will end up being a thing I wanna build towards, it's not too hard to see where this is going. It's kind of like the same thing I did for Kanao and Tanjiro last chapter in a way, but in contrast to those two, this feels to me like a...normal pairing, if you will. Tanjiro and Kanao each have their own emotional journey to go on before anything could even ever happen, while Zenitsu very clearly knows he likes girls, and Aoi in specific, while Aoi knows that and slowly grows warmer to him. It's not as interesting to write, in a way, but it does have a very different feel, in my opinion. This also serves to establish Zenitsu's whole mentality after he's had some time to process his talk to Inosuke and what it means, serving to establish the last of the Senses.**

**Which then moves us back to Tanjiro, off to meet Kagaya. I had Shinobu show up briefly there too if only because I'd already established she was there, and I like the amicable relationship I built up between these two. Really, at this point, Shinobu is the only Pillar that Tanjiro even likes, so it's a good point to start leading up to Kagaya. Which, speaking of, is really fun to write. The conversation between Tanjiro and Kagaya back in Chapter 13 is, in my opinion, one of the best dialogues I wrote in this story so far with how it links one idea to another and brings forth so much stuff. Though this is a much smaller version of that, I think it still has some cool stuff to it.**

**Kagaya is obviously meant to be seen as a foil to Muzan, and in that way, he is this all too knowing figure in the Corps. And of course, he is. Imagine how much knowledge the Ubuyashiki family has accumulated in nearly five hundred years of fighting demons. Him knowing about Tamayo and where she was hiding was something shown in the story itself, but I really don't think its too much a stretch to say he knew as much as her connection to Yoriichi. Which was why he advised Tanjiro to keep his cloak on and his scar uncovered, if anyone was wondering.**

**But yeah, next chapter we'll be starting a short arc focused around Tanjiro meeting Tamayo and Yuichirou, much later than in Canon but nonetheless its here. Plus, expect an unexpected guest appearance to said meeting. All that said, thanks to DownwardDive. Our thoughts are interconnected, bruv.**

**And so we end the chapter. Just kidding. There's reviews to answer.**

_Chimera608: Are you gonna introduce Tamayo and Yushiro like in the anime or in a different way_

**What a convenient question leading from the end of this chapter. You should feel proud, even though you'll have to wait for next chapter to find out.**

_CrumpetsAndTeaLeaves: First of all, hope you're keeping well . _

_Secondly, Damn. Every time I think I have an idea of what's gonna happen you slap a twister straight into my face. Totally was not expecting Zenitsu and Inosuke to lose to Rui and then for Zenitsu to lose his FREAKIN FINGERS! Curious to see what you do with his character next and whether he'll continue to be a demon slayer._

_Also was too cute how you had Kanao help Tanjirou get out of his funk. _

_Keep up the amazing work!_

**I am, thanks. Aside from the whole worldwide crisis thing, things seem to be looking up. Gotta say though, from Chapter 6 to 23 in one day? I'm impressed. That's like a whole harry potter novel and then some, especially if you read the Author's Notes as I like to think everyone diligently does. **

**Yeah...what author doesn't like throwing a curveball? Well, I kinda do, and I think there's a lot more where that came from. If you're interested on Zenitsu's character though, then I think this chapter gave you something to get your hook on.**

**And yeah, their budding romance is admittedly becoming one of my favorite character bits to write in this story. **

_Someone: You're amazing._

**I know. **

_Uncle G: Do you plan on making Tanjiro still go to the Sword Smith village and train with the Yoriichi puppet so that he gets stronger Yorichii's blade? I think it would be super badass._

**That is admittedly an arc from canon I'm having trouble adding to my story, but I really want to eventually visit the Swordsmith Village much later in the story. By then hopefully, I'll be able to work it and all its elements into this the proper way.**

_Wolvmbm: Great update as these were conversations that both Inosuke and Tanjiro needed to hear. However, given how sometimes Inosuke takes things a bit too literally it makes me wonder if he will listen to the advice he received and tries to think before he acts later in the future._

_Tanjiro's talk with Kanao is an interesting development for the both of them given Kanao's shyness/cautious approach to it all. Plus how Tanjiro once viewed himself as the older brother in his family quickly growing up, but also losing so much so soon._

_One has to wonder what would happen if Nezuko is cured, but she recalls her previous actions as a demon given how that happens in the manga. Yet it makes me wonder how it would affect her in this storyline of a similar thing were to happen there ?_

_Please do keep up the good work on this fantastic tale as I cannot wait to see what happens next to the story now that these boys are learning the hard way of being a demon slayer or at least the personal consequences of it all so far._

**Well, regarding Inosuke, I tried to show a bit where that whole train of thought took him in this chapter. Of course, he's still very much Inosuke, but the way he views things and approaches situations has by now began changing with his development. It might be a while before anything too concrete comes from this though.**

**I'm glad you liked Kanao and Tanjiro. That part in special was pretty hard to write despite how satisfying it was at the same time. I think I managed to make a pretty fair argument for Kanao falling for him again despite how different this Tanjiro is from the one in Canon. **

**Nezuko's cure is something I only introduced as a concept in this very chapter despite being essentially the driving motive of the Protagonist in the main story. Here though, it is obviously different since Nezuko's hands are nowhere near as clean as they were as her 'imouto in a box' version, and it's something I want to touch on from Tanjiro's perspective in next chapter since here he didn't have much time to consider it and just jumped at the opportunity automatically because previously the only logical option seemed to be killing her.**

**That's such an accurate way to describe so much of this. It was obviously touched on in Canon, but here the hardships of a Demon Slayer's life is a far bigger theme, even if I hadn't really realized as much at first. **

_Chimera608: I have a question is nezuko gonna have ship in this story or not_  
_If you do can you ship her with Giyuu_

**At present, I have no plans on shipping her with anyone, and to be honest, if it did happen it's unlikely that it'd be with her would-be murderer. There'd need to be a lot of getting around that part to make it happen, and I personally don't really see the appeal on it as a pairing enough to follow through.**

_HamburgerLife Bro that Kanao and Tanjiro moment is so hella cute! 10/10 SHIP_

_Glad Inosuke and Tanjiro skipped past their horrible states, now I'm really curious on how you're gonna get Zenitsu to cheer up._

_I'm sensing that it'll be Aoi since that's the ship you settled with but ngl, it's a pretty weird ship that I never thought I'd see. I'd say it makes me uncomfortable but who knows? Depends on how you execute it, it might not be that bad~_

_P.S._  
_Need more consumption of 100% pure flamboyancy_

**Thanks, bruv. Keep shipping. **

**Well, I hope Zenitsu's own moment worked for you too. Aoi didn't have a direct impact on it, but this chapter was nonetheless very important for their development because of what came immediately afterward. I know its kind of an off-hand pairing, but in my opinion it's actually more well developed in the actual story than the implicitly canon Inosuke and Aoi, or even him and Nezuko given how one-sided that one was for what we saw in the manga. Plus, with Nezuko more or less out of the picture, I thought Zenitsu's character benefited from a relationship more than Inosuke's, especially with the shit I have and will put him through in this story. Either way, I do hope you'll come around to at least appreciate that choice in direction. Though, if not...well, you can't always please everyone.**

**Anyway, thanks for the review, I promise you more flamboyancy in the near future.**

_Guest__: update naruto senpudden_

**Nah.**

_YoungTaoist: Love the story so far! The characterization, the development, the plot and events, it all ties together so well, as if they were all cogs part of a greater machine, which they should be! And the fight scenes are really detailed as well! I look forward to your next update._

**Thank you, that is amazing praise. A story should kind of work like a machine in a way, a long horizontal machine with lots of cogs and wheels that make each other spin, all resulting in...something. I think I got a bit too lost in that one analogy, but I get exactly what you mean.**

_gogo bananas: lo key still salty about schwacking murata, but i get it._  
_great chapter for the characters dawg_

**Sorry bout Murata, but yeah, thanks.**

_AnikaSukino 5d: After a tough and cruel battle comes the mental / psychological consequences of the Kamabako Squad!_  
_I liked how you tackled the crude of Inosuke in relation to his actions and the problems that his decisions brought, I didn't expect that Uzui was in charge of being the support for the boy. Already at least he was able to reveal his frustrations and see his internal flaws._

_With Tanjiro ... ahhh I don't know what to say. On the one hand I loved the narrative of those raw and cold emotions now that he knows that his sister is alive but on the wrong side and with the probability that when she dies, she will go to hell for her actions._  
_There are few or rather, almost null stories in these parts or on different platforms with that expressiveness of Kamado type "Nothing matters to me anymore, everything went to shit", for a moment I almost shouted when he took off the earrings, I thought that he would get rid of his family's most important heirloom, and worse than I thought he would be seeing his family disappointed by the unexpected new turn in his life._  
_Anyway, Kanao could be the support for the boy and now she knows his secret, let's add that now our new girlfriend is confused hahahahaha I laughed at that ending. XD_

_I liked the chapter, I fell in love with the part of Tanjiro and her cold and lifeless emotions ... from just imagining those eyes without the shine, so empty ... ufff I LIKE IT ! *O*_

_I didn't even know there was a Spanish version of your story! I'm going to read it !_  
_And I just found out that you also publish on AO3 ! You already have a new follower ! ewe_

_I hope new chapter, see you!_

_PS: Do you remember that I commented that your story inspired me to do a solo that, making changes like Nezuko was actually killed by Giyu and Tanjiro was traumatized and now he wants to seek his death to be reunited with his family but something prevents with someone's intervention and help him with the idea of getting revenge on the man who killed his sister?_  
_I'm already doing it, although I'm working with the part to express the emotions and empty feelings of Tanjiro. ñ.ñ_  
_In case I'm mega involved with the other story of the AU of the Kamado brothers ... but good. TuT_

_._  
_I'm sorry if you got bored reading this postscript. T-T_

**Okay, I gotta say...two completely different but still long reviews on the same chapter by the same person in two different websites. That's a new for me. Kudos to you, you really grabbed my attention. **

**So yeah, Uzui really was an unconventional choice, but I have my reasons, and I think those will become clearer in the long term. Inosuke really got a hard dose of character-development juice forced down his throat, and this was the chapter where we saw what he started making of it. Like I already replied to another reader, he is a hard character to develop in this way, but I still think I can get this right in the long term.**

**I'm glad you liked the whole Tanjiro emotional dump in the last chapter. That one was a long time coming but was still somewhat hard to write and pace. It's a big monologue of self-pity and regret. More than that, having to follow it with Kanao forcing him out of that state was even harder. On retrospect, I think it turned out well enough, though I really had to stretch the POV aspect of it to its boundaries. For example, I think I implied at one point that he cried for a moment but never actually wrote it down. I don't know if someone caught onto the intention of that, but either way, now it's written here for all to see. **

**And with Kanao...well, what really do I have to write about Kanao? She's got a hard case of puppy love. Where that leads from here, only time will tell, not that it's that unpredictable...well, mostly, anyway. **

**Regarding the postscript, I do remember that. It's almost the same premise as this, but where Nezuko's death isn't a fake off. I still think its a great premise I'll give it a read and a review whenever I can.**

**And no, not bored. What kind of author would complain about a several-hundred word review anyway?**

_KermitDaFwog: Really good chapter. I am really enjoying where you're taking inosuke's character development, though I do remember reading a fic which takes a similar approach on developing him, but the author just ended up erasing what made Insokue himself. I think that if pulled of well, this can be a very satisfying character arc._  
_P.S 4, The Final P.S: Not much of a romance fan, but I'm interested to see where the realtionships in this fic go_  
_P.S 5, A New Begging: Zenistu needs a hug_  
_P.S 8, P.S Takes Manhattan: Got nothing else, just wanted to make this joke_

**Hm, really? That kind of does make me curious about that fic, but I do understand why it would be so easy to make a character like Inosuke lose his appeal. I kinda did that for Tanjiro in a way, but those are not the same kind of developments. For Inosuke, I think it will be more about ironing out his flaws and playing to his strengths rather than changing him too much. For example, yes, he's not a booksmarts kinda guy, but he is still someone who created an entire breathing style from stretch and has shown some crazy creativity in battle, such as dislodging his own arm with his natural flexibility to get a longer range on his swing. I really wanna play to stuff like that with him here. **

**Glad you like where I'm taking the romance so far too...and yeah, Zenitsu could've used a hug like Tanjiro did. He'll probably get one eventually.**

_The FanficHunter10: was going to sleep... but I got the update notification ... spent the last 40 mins reading the chapter... and now it's kinda late since I have school tomorrow (damn you Corona!) but it's definitely worth it !_

**Thanks, always good to know someone postponned their sleep just to read my stuff.**

**Anyway, that'll be all for today. Take care, my fine readers. Use your masks, and all that stuff. Plus, like usual, leave a review in this chapter and I'll be happy to answer it in the next. Sky signing out.**


	25. The Kind Doctor

Tanjiro Kamado had never been to the big city before.

He was born and raised in the mountains, and outside of the many trips to the nearby village to sell coal, that was where he'd remained. Even when his family was killed, he'd still stayed around the mountain training for two more years training before he definitely left his home, and outside of his stays in the Butterfly Estate, he'd been on the road since. However, he had nonetheless never been to an actual metropolis before, let alone the capital of all places. Still, he didn't think it would be much different from somewhere like Kaigara, which itself seemed plenty impressive when he visited it.

Turns out though he was wrong. As he stood in the middle of Asakusa, he couldn't help but experience sensory overload from all the different sounds, sights, and especially smells all around him. Despite it being nighttime, every single corner was lit by electric light with countless people going on and about along the streets, more than he'd ever seen gathered in one place before, as a matter of fact. And as far as he knew, this was just another normal night in Tokyo.

In the short time since arriving, Tanjiro had tasted foods and had seen contraptions of the likes he'd never thought existed. A good example of the latter was the large metal machines taking people back and forth along the city guided by cables connected from post to post. At first, he'd confused it for a large animal, but turns out the odd vehicle was actually something known as a trolley. The short ride he'd hesitantly taken in one had proved to be a very surreal experience, seeing something so large being moved around so easily with no sight of animal or manpower. The wonders of technology felt almost a bit overwhelming, even for someone who was very used to fighting and killing deadly, maneating demons at this point. He supposed though such were the consequences of the march of time, and he'd have to get used to it sooner or later.

That all though was not to say he'd forgotten the reason he was there in the first place. He'dd left Ubuyashiki Mansion and had made his way off without even stopping by the Butterfly Mansion, carrying only the money he had on him. Tanjiro admittedly did feel a bit guilty leaving the others behind to go off on a mission without as much as a word, but he felt as if they would get the memo in some way or another. Not to mention, even more overpowering than his guilt was his desire to find this Tamayo he had been told about by Kagaya. Supposedly, this doctor who was working on a way to reverse the process with demonification could help him regarding the problem with his sister, but so far, despite hours of going around asking locals if they knew of one doctor Tamayo, not one person had given him anything on where to find the mysterious woman. He'd been pointed to a couple doctors in the region, but none of them was a woman, and even the few he'd gone after and spoke to in vain hope could tell him nothing regarding her. It was if she didn't even exist at all.

As he walked through one of the less lit and crowded corners of Asakusa in an attempt to give himself some time off from the sheer sensory overload that was the big city, he couldn't help but curse his eagerness. He'd really gone all the way there with no information besides a name, not even a vague description or a clue to finding her. All he was told was to be careful with his blade and to wear his cloak, which was utterly useless information as far as actually finding her went. He sighed, wondering silently if it was all really just a waste of time. Maybe Kagaya didn't have the right information, maybe Tamayo wasn't there at all, and maybe it was just meant to be his way.

When first presented with the possibility of returning his sister's humanity, he didn't even think, he just took it. After all, before that, the only other option to even solving this situation seemed to be killing her, and needless to say the weight behind such a choice was beyond crushing. It wasn't like the idea of searching for another way had crossed his mind before, but up until Kagaya presented him with the possibility of someone who could actually achieve the reversal of demonification, that hadn't been anything more than a daydream. But the trip to Asakusa had been a fairly long one, and he had plenty of time to let those thoughts take root in his head. Now, the idea behind reversing Nezuko's current state didn't seem like the perfect situation anymore. As he'd seen with his own eyes, her hands were not clean. The blood of many a Demon Slayer had been drawn by her, and there would likely be more before it was all over. Would Nezuko really be impune to the consequence of those actions if he managed to turn her back into a human...? He wasn't sure...but he knew that whatever the case, he would stand by her. And it was undoubtedly the better option compared to putting her down. That though wouldn't be going anywhere if he couldn't even find Tamayo to begin with. Was there really no way of going down the easier path in this...?

Before he could continue on with his line of thoughts however, Tanjiro's nose would catch onto something. Something close. And he didn't need to smell it twice to know that this something was a demon. He didn't even think, he turned around in a flash, already drawing his katana with a diagonal slash. Though when he did so he still saw nothing, his nose said otherwise, and his blade proved it true when its tip made contact with something, a trail of blood splattering across the wall by his side as the form of a demon suddenly came into view, with it stumbling and falling back with his back to the ground. Before it could move another muscle, Tanjiro was upon it, with the tip of his sword touching the creature's neck.

Only then, with his attacker on the ground, could the boy get a proper look at the demon. He looked eerily humanlike, with barely any traits discerning him from a human at first sight other than the slits in his purple eyes and his slightly paler complexion. He had the appearance a boy maybe a bit younger than himself with pale green hair with black tips around his hairline, wearing a button-up shirt under a white kimono and dark blue pants. But despite his fairly harmless look, his smell told a different story by itself. Well, that and the other thing. Namely, that which was seemingly glued to his forehead, a piece of paper torn in two by his already healing slash across the boy's face, one Tanjiro quickly realized looked like that of a talisman, "_Is that what he used to get the drop on me like he was invisible...?_" He wondered, availing the demon with a raised eyebrow.

The demon, meanwhile, was down on the ground, glaring up at the red-clad boy irritatedly, "You Demon Slayers are all the same...attack first, ask questions later." He snarled angrily, "I still think its a stupid idea, but if it's really what is what milady wants, I can't really refuse..."

Tanjiro...was caught off guard by this, staring at the demon bemusedly for a moment before asking, "...come again?"

"You're the brat going around town asking for Lady Tamayo aren't you?" The demon asked, grabbing the blade being held to his neck and pushing it down with little resistance from its wielder, "Well, I'm here to take you to her"

"...you? You know Tamayo?" He asked, blinking in confusion, still not quite understanding what was happening, "But...but you're a..."

"A demon? Yeah, idiot." The boy grunted, rising up to his feet, "Now come on, she's already waiting for you." He began walking off, only to soon enough notice Tanjiro was not following, instead just standing there staring at nothing with his mouth hanging, "You coming or what?" The demon asked annoyedly..

Tanjiro blinked, snapping out of his daze and staring over at the demon still confusedly before nodding, "Yeah...right behind you." He replied, sheeting away his katana before beginning to follow, finally realizing now what Kagaya had meant by not drawing his blade unless it was necessary, and also that the Demon Slayer's leader might've intentionally held back on telling him some very important information regarding his mission

This was an odd experience for Tanjiro. Every demon he'd ran into up to this point had meant him harm almost immediately, and yet here he was, following after a demon on his way to meet an ally. Sure, the way he'd snuck up to him was suspicious, enough to justify immediate action from him, but it wasn't like he'd smelled any deception coming from the boy either. In fact, his nose told him everything he'd said up until now was true. And besides that, there was definitely something very different in his smell distinguishing this boy from other demons. After meeting Nezuko again, he'd almost discarded entirely the old hypothesis of a truly kind demon existing, one able to control their instincts and interact with humans without seeing them as cattle, the kind of demon that didn't require slaying. Had he really just happened to run into the living example of those beliefs...?

When the boy eventually glanced back to check on him, he'd realize Tanjiro was staring hard at his back with a very confused expression. He sighed despondently and turned around with a groan, "Fine, fine, I get it. It's the first time you haven't seen a demon that hasn't tried to tear your throat open, I know." He annoyedly told the boy, "No need to stare so hard..."

"...so does that mean you really don't eat any human flesh like the others?" The Demon Slayer inquired, taking the chance to maybe break the ice and strike a conversation.

"Thanks to Lady Tamayo's efforts, I am able to survive by feeding on a mixture made with a small amount of human blood once a week." The demon explained, "Well, technically, any demon should, really, but I hear it's hard to give up on human flesh once you get a good taste of it."

"Yeah, so I've heard..." Tanjiro said, "In that case though, you're lucky Doctor Tamayo found you before you could hurt anyone."

"Quite presumptuous of you," The demon glanced back at him with an annoyed frown, "But that wasn't in fact what happened. Lady Tamayo was the one who turned me into a demon for my own sake."

The swordsman blinked in surprise at hearing that, "Uh...what? SHE was the one who turned you into a demon...?!" He asked confusedly, "That's impossible...the only one who can turn people into demons is-"

"Muzan Kibutsuji, yes. Again, presumptuous of you to think so." The boy commented, catching the Slayer a bit off guard with how casually he dropped that name, "But yes, Lady Tamayo was the one to turn me. I was on the verge of death with a terminal disease and begged her for a second chance, which she granted. I was fully aware of what I was getting into, mind you, and for saving my life I have been serving milady faithfully ever since."

"Alright...she can turn others into demons..." Tanjiro restated, still finding that somewhat incredulous, but going on regardless, "What about reversing the process? Can she do that?"

"...so that's what this is all about." The demon murmured, letting out a quiet sigh, "She's been successful in the past, but only with those recently turned. The stronger a demon becomes and the more human flesh they consume, the harder it becomes to reverse that process. We currently lack the data necessary to progress past that stage as of present."

"I see..." The Demon Slayer muttered, "Of course it wouldn't have been that easy..."

The demon snorted and turned up to stare straight ahead. A good couple minutes of walking would go by then, with Tanjiro just following along in silent thought when the boy came to a sudden stop in what was essentially an empty street with walls on both sides leading down to a dead-end, "We're here."

The red-clad boy came to a stop, looking left and right to both walls and seeing no kind of gate or entrance in sight, "Uh...are you sure?"

Rolling his eyes, the demon just silently motioned for him to follow before walking straight towards the dead-end, which had Tanjiro standing there with a raised eyebrow for a moment before the boy just walked through the wall as if it was nothing more than a mirage, disappearing through it. Blinking, the Demon Slayer hesitantly followed in his guide's footsteps before he himself walked through the mirage of a wall, and emerged on the other end, a large garden with sakura trees around the corners and a large house in the center, not as big as the Ubuyashiki or Butterfly mansions, but nonetheless quite big.

"Wow...who would've thought, a house hidden here..." Tanjiro commented, staring up at the building as he approached it following the demon. As they did so though, he would notice the piece of paper resembling a talisman hanging right above the front door, "Hey, isn't that...?"

"Yes, it's a talisman, just like the one I used to sneak up on you, except far more potent. It is what hides this house and its presence from anyone outside." The demon explained, removing the torn piece of paper in his now long healed forehead and discarding it, both pieces fading to ash before they touched the ground, "Producing those is my Demon Blood Art."

Tanjiro nodded in understanding before pausing as he recalled the incident where they had met in just minutes ago, "Speaking of which, why were you sneaking up on me in the first place back then?"

"Just because Lady Tamayo told me to bring you here doesn't mean I'd let a complete stranger into our house." The demon told him with disdain, "I admit I was caught off guard by your...unexpected sense of perception, but I still think this was a terrible idea."

Frowning, Tanjiro was about to reply to that when he was caught off guard by the sudden emergence of an almost too sweet, perfume-like smell, but one with the same characteristics that had given away the boy's true nature. "Yushiro, you shouldn't talk so rudely to our guest." A female voice rang out as he suddenly stopped and looked off to the side, his gaze being followed by the light-haired boy just before a woman walked over from the around the corner of the house. She had brown hair tied into a bum and deep lavender eyes, wearing a purple kimono decorated with the images of tree branches and flowers.

"Lady Tamayo, I am deeply sorry! I didn't mean to upset yo- I mean, the kid here." The demon, apparently named Yushiro, declared while down on one knee and his head fully lowered, his whole personality having apparently changed with the flick of a switch. Tanjiro didn't focus on that too much though, seeing as he had his attention focused on Tamayo herself. She was a demon, of course she was a demon, how had he not realized that sooner? It really did recontextualize most of the conversation he had with Ubuyashiki, such as her avoiding the Corps for a long time as well as why someone working to reverse the demonification process would distance themselves from Demon Slayers. Most notable of all that though was the fact that the very same Tamayo was staring right at him with a clear look of surprise and he really had no idea why. "Uh..Lady Tamayo?" Yushiro called out at her lack of response, seeming to break the daze she was in as Tamayo turned to her assistant.

"Uh...yes, thank you for bringing him here, Yushiro." She said, nodding to the boy before turning her attention back to Tanjiro, "So...you were the Demon Slayer asking around town for me..."

"Yeah...that's me." Tanjiro confirmed, "I've come here to ask for your help."

"I see..well, why don't you come in for some tea?" Tamayo then offered the boy, staring deeply at him, "I believe you and I have much to discuss."

* * *

Elsewhere not too far away, a hooded figure made his way through one of the less populated corners of Asakusa. His cloak blew in the wind as the streetlights cast an imposing shadow with his tall stature. The figure had been tracking his target for what seemed like ages now, but now felt closer to it than ever. First it had been Kaigara, where his target had first made his impact by bringing down Lower Moon Six. He'd visited the seaside town in hopes of getting a trace from his target, but he seldom got anything that useful out of the experience. The next place he visited though was different, as a while later he'd be informed that the boy had a run-in with the newest Lower Moon member down in Natagumo Mountain. The trail this time was far fresher, and he'd gotten from it a clear picture of his target for the first time ever, but had also lost track of that trail too. Now, there they were, Asakusa, and he was closer behind than ever before. It was only a matter of time until he caught up with the kid at this rate...

The figure though came to a sudden stop then as something caught his attention. Glancing to the side, he'd see a few small dark smudges of a dried liquid marring the side of a grey wall. He'd reach out for it, using his sharp nail to scratch at it to get a sample before bringing it up to his nose and getting a whiff at it. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he'd lower his finger and bring it to his mouth in order to get in a small taste to confirm his suspicions, "Huh...demon blood...how curious." He murmured, looking up as the electric light above reflected itself in his eyes, revealing the insignia for 'Lower Moon One' etched into his pupils, "Now...where exactly did you run off to, boy?"

* * *

Tanjiro sat cross-legged by a low wooden table, staring down at the dark cup of tea set in front of him. After entering the house and being given some proper introduction, Tamayo had insisted on not only serving him tea but also replacing the discarded bandages he'd traveled without upon noticing how the injury on his forehead was still fresh, adding a strong-smelling balm over the scar that she insisted would accelerate the healing process. She'd also asked Yushiro to take his cloak, hanging the dirtied red haori on the corner of the room. He really didn't expect to ever experience this kind of hospitality from a demon of all things, but life just kinda took a weird turn like that sometimes.

Either way, they did everything to make him comfortable enough to open up, even if they didn't need to. Regardless, once he and Tamayo were sat across from each other in the ground table, with Yuchirou at his side shooting him a glare every now and then, he would take a sip of his tea and begin his story. He told them only what they needed to know, from the fateful day where his whole family was slaughtered and him and his sister were mysteriously separated to the equally fateful reencounter they had at the peak of Natagumo Mountain years later, no more and no less.

As he finished his tale, Tamayo would set down her cup of tea on the table, looking at him in pity, "So your sister was turned into a Demon Moon...I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if there's much I can do in this specific case."

"I know. Yushiro did say you guys lack the proper data to reverse the process on anyone other than a recently turned demon," Tanjiro recalled before continuing, "but if your problem here is that you lack something, then why don't we help one another? Anything you need for this, I'll help you get it."

"It's not that simple, Tanjiro." Tamayo told him, "To reverse the process on something like a demon moon, we'd need samples on those around the same level as herself to work with, probably even higher so. You'd need to go out hunting some of Kibutsuji's most powerful servants if you really want me to make your sister a cure. It's the kind of job that might get too dangerous even for a Pillar if you happen to approach the wrong demon."

'I don't care about the danger." Tanjiro immediately told her without even a hint of hesitation, "I've killed Lower Moon Six and fought Nezuko to a standstill. They were strong, sure, but ranking doesn't scare me. I'll fight whoever it takes if it means turning her back, even if I have to raise my blade against Muzan himself for that."

Yushiro snorted at that statement, "Yeah, good luck. Even if you did well against a few Lower Moons, there are far bigger fish out there to fry. Let's see how well you do against something like an Upper Moon."

Tamayo sighed, "Unfortunately, Yushiro is right. Lower Moons are powerful enough themselves, but Upper Moons are something else entirely. Monsters, the likes of which have lived and amassed their strength for well over a century who, in the past, have taken the combined effort of several Pillars at once to even take down. And the Upper Moons themselves are incomparable to the power Muzan himself holds..."

Tanjiro frowned as he looked down frustratedly, thinking back to his brief spar against Giyu Tomioka and how despite it ending in a tie, he'd still been admittedly overwhelmed by the Water Pillar's superior skill and would've outright lost to him were they using real swords instead of bokken. Then there was the fight against Nezuko herself, which also had no conclusive victor, but deep down he knew that had she really wanted to, that fight would've ended with his whole head on fire rather than with just his scar reshaped. The burgundy-haired boy let out a deep sigh, reminding himself how despite having the drive to achieve his goals, but he still had a long way to go in terms of power. "Yeah...you're right. I'm getting ahead of myself, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Tanjiro." Tamayo told him reassuringly, placing a kind hand over his own lying on the table, "I understand your eagerness. It's your sister, after all. The fact that despite everything that happened, you still didn't even consider giving up on her...that's not foolishness, it's the mark of a good person."

Tanjiro looked up at her then and saw the kindness in her eyes, the sympathy she felt for him, and the smell behind it confirmed her words were honest, "_This..._" He thought, comprehension fully dawning on him, "_...this is what I was looking for...a truly kind demon._" For the first time in a long while, he felt as if all that weight had been fully lifted from his shoulders for a moment, and with it he managed to produce an honest smile. That moment though was rudely interrupted when he realized Yushiro was silently glaring right at him with arms crossed from his position at the table. Blinking, his smile broke as he pulled his hand away from Tamayo's, "...thank you, Lady Tamayo."

"You're most welcome, Tanjiro. Just know that you can count on me and Yushiro to help you with your sister..." She said, before pausing, "Though...if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you know to come looking for me in the first place?"

"...Lord Kagaya, the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. He was the one who told me about you." Tanjiro confessed, much to the two demons' evident surprise. He knew this was not the kind of information he could hide from the two, even if they didn't react well to it. He certainly didn't when he was told Shinobu had kept him under watch, and he wasn't trying to hide like these two were."

"The Demon Slayers know our whereabouts?!" Yushiro exclaimed confusedly as Tamayo looked down worriedly, "How is that even possible...?!"

"Lord Kagaya said the Corps had been keeping an eye on you for a long time. Initially, I thought he meant a couple of years, but now I'm starting to think this might've been in play well before his time." He tried to explain, "He told me though he was looking to recruit your aid for our efforts against Muzan, but never managed to figure the right way to approach you...until..."

"...until you came along." Tamayo realized, seeming to have a far better understanding of the situation now, "The Ubuyashiki family have always been known for the information they have accumulated throughout the years, but I couldn't have imagined their knowledge went that far back..."

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow, not fully understanding what she meant by that, but for the moment decided not to push it further, deciding to instead focus on the mission he'd been trusted with, "Doesn't look like you're too keen on taking him up on that offer..."

"We're demons, kid. We've got no business getting mixed in with Demon Slayers." Yushiro rudely told you.

"That might be true, but you're not like most demons." Tanjiro argued, "Lord Kagaya already wants your help, so I'm sure we could convince everyone else to make an exception for the two of you. I know the Corps have customs to how they approach Demon Slaying that even I disagree with, but you'd be able to go a lot further in your research if we collaborated."

"You don't understand, Tanjiro. I have done too many terrible things in the past and hurt many people in the process." Tamayo told him, looking down shamefully, "Things that, if you knew their full extent, would make forgiving the likes of me near impossible. I've barely done so myself, so I can't expect the Demon Slayer Corps to do it too. If anything, they would be right in putting me down. However, before I die, I at least want to right my wrongs as much as possible. Until then, I can't risk joining forces with the Demon Slayers and must avoid them at all costs."

"...if you're so adamant in staying away from the Demon Slayers, why did you have Yushiro bring me here instead of staying hidden?" Tanjiro finally asked the question that had been scratching at the back of his head since he got there.

Tamayo paused as she was asked that, taking a long, quiet sip of her tea before lowering the cup with a small, nostalgic smile, "Well...to be perfectly honest...even from Yushiro's secondhand description of you, and even more so when I actually saw you..." She looked at him, her smile unfaltering, "...you really reminded me of a dear old friend of mine."

The Demon Slayer raised an eyebrow curiously, "A friend...? Who-" Tanjiro caught himself mid-question then when his nose caught onto something. A third smell, of a third demon, but this one nowhere near as pleasant as the two benevolent demons' smells. Yushiro seemed to notice too, as he immediately grabbed Tamayo and pulled her to the side while Tanjiro stood up. Just in time too as numerous white spikes suddenly broke to the ground from one corner of the room, growing exponentially fast with more emerging towards their direction. Tanjiro knew the other two were demons and thus decided to prioritize his own safety in the sudden crisis knowing either could survive whatever this was while he couldn't and, as a white spike pierced through the ground table sending their cups of tea flying into the air, the Demon Slayer would have already dived off to the side, crashing through a window moments before the entire room was filled all the way to the ceiling with the emerging white spikes.

The boy rolled on the grass upon landing, immediately feeling the cold the night wind blowing with the lack of his cloak. He turned to the house where he'd come from in time to see the spikes burst through the ceiling, causing an entire section of Tamayo's mansion to collapse down onto itself. Silently cursing the loss of his cloak and hoping the two demons weren't too hurt inside there, Tanjiro breathed in before turning his attention to where the third smell had come from in order to face their sudden attacker.

Standing not too far from the house was a cloaked and hooded figure, kneeling with his right hand hanging open inches from the ground, a white appendage emerging from his palm and making contact with the ground to create the trail of growing white spikes leading to the house. As he rose to an imposing height, the figure would turn his attention to the Demon Slayer, his hood not doing much in hiding the bearded lower half of his pale face and the wide smile strewn across his lips, "There you are..." The demon said gleefully, "I've been searching you for quite a while now, hanafuda boy..."

"Have you now...?" Tanjiro inquired with a somewhat nervous smile, knowing by smell alone that, whoever this guy was, he was undoubtedly strong, "What exactly did I do to earn that honor exactly?"

"Nothing personal, really..." The demon chuckled as he walked towards him, "But whatever it was, you must've screwed up pretty badly to draw the ire of That Man in particular..."

"...so Muzan sent you." Tanjiro deduced, his hand taking a cautious hold on his sword's hilt as his foe approached, "But I doubt he'd send more low-level demons after me, especially after I took down Lower Moon Six...I can tell already though that you are stronger than he was, so why don't you lower that hood so I can get a look at your eyes and spare myself the mystery?"

"Oh, of course. Where are my manners?" The demon inquired, stopping his stride still a fair distance away from Tanjiro, his hands raising to take a hold of his hood and lower it, his facial features now fully in view. He looked like a man in his thirties or forties, with long, dark hair matching the beard and black, vein-like marks running down from his forehead and golden eyes, the left of which had the marking engrained for the man's rank, the highest of its kind, "My name is Rokuro, Lower Moon One. Pleased to make your acquaintance, young swordsman."

Tanjiro narrowed his eyes, trying to keep his cool given the situation, but he still couldn't prevent a bead of cold sweat from running down his temple. "_Lower Moon One, huh...? I could tell at a glance this guy felt totally different than Kamanue or even Nezuko, but who would've guessed he's this high up...?_"

"Having second thoughts?" Rokuro inquired, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "I hope not. Hardly would be fitting for such a long hunt to end with such an underwhelming opponent..."

"Well, it's unexpected, sure..." Tanjiro admitted, before his other hand gripped onto his scabbard, his feet shifting into a drawing stance, his eyes staring his opponent down hard, "But turns out I'd have to go after your kind sooner or later. If anything, I should thank you for saving me the trip."

"Now that's more like it..." Rokuro grinned delightedly, "I suppose you'll be providing me some fun after all. I appreciate having to fight for my reward." He then glanced off to the side to the collapsed section of the house, "As for those two demons with you, if you can even call them that, I might not understand what they were doing conspiring with a Demon Slayer, but I'm sure the Master will be more than happy to punish some traitors once I hand them off alongside your decapitated head."

Tanjiro's gaze hardened at that, the grip around his katana tightening. He was used to threats being directed at himself, but to have a bystander threatened because of him when neither Tamayo or Yushiro had anything to do with this was enough to anger him. He didn't care if they were demons. After talking and getting to know them, he knew those two were no different than humans, and should be treated as such. The same could not be said for the Lower Moon standing before him. He could smell the blood from his previous victims in him, people killed for nothing other than satisfying this monster's selfish hunger. Contrary to Tamayo or Yushiro, this was not someone deserving of his mercy, "I won't let you lay a finger on them." He snarled, stepping forward as he slowly drew his katana from its scabbard, its dark edge already surrounded by bright flames that quickly began growing brighter, "Breath of the Sun, Sixth Dance: High Noon Flare!"

In a flash, Tanjiro moved, reappearing right in front of his opponent with his drawn blade already being swung towards the demon's neck at blinding speeds. For a moment, he thought he had him, but of course, it wasn't that easy. The flames of his blade halted as Rokuro intercepted the blow by simply raising his forearm. Though the sword had cut into it somewhat, it was unable to pierce even halfway through as it was stopped entirely when it made contact with a surprisingly hard surface, "Is that all?" The Lower Moon inquired a moment before his other hand shot out in a fist at the Demon Slayer's chest, though he, in turn, was able to intercept it with the hilt of his sword, being sent flying back, forced to stab his blade in the ground and even then skid for quite some distance in order to stop his own momentum.

"_That...was my fastest attack. And yet he managed to react to it like he knew exactly where I'd throw it._" Tanjiro thought in surprise, pulling his blade off the ground and raising it at the demon, "_Not to mention, he's incredibly tough. Just like Lower Moon Six...except he isn't turning his skin into anything. I cut past his flesh and muscle just fine, but...I just couldn't get past his bone._"

"Figured it out yet?" Rokuro inquired, striding towards him as he rolled up his sleeves, "My Demon Blood Art...it is named the Dead Bone Pulse." He exclaimed as two thin white blades each the length of a kodachi emerged from his palms. "It allows me to reshape and weaponize every single bone in my body, not to mention naturally making my entire skeleton harder than any kind of metal. Normally it isn't something I'd like to start any fight with as to not become too reliant on those powers, but given the stakes of the matter, I feel like I can make you an exception."

"_Bones, huh...? So that's what those spikes were..._" He thought, glancing briefly to the side where the collapsed section of the house was, the rising spears of bone still piercing past the mass of rubble. Immediately as he did so though, his Forescent would flare up and he'd glance back forward just in time to see Rokuro upon him after lunging in at Tanjiro in his brief moment of distraction. Luckily, his sense of scent kept him sharp and allowed him to deflect the horizontal slash of one of the demon's blades upwards while backing up. He kept himself on the defensive then as Rokuro attacked fiercely swinging both his bone blades, knowing going on the offensive with anything other than a good blow to the neck would just give his foe a chance to attack him while his guard wasn't up.

At one point amidst all his blocking, Tanjiro would raise his katana to intercept one of the swings but would end up having their weapons locked together for a moment. This was enough for Rokuro to suddenly slide his blade up to its base and wrap his fingers around the katana's steel, trapping and pulling it down for a moment as to swing at the boy with the blade in his other hand. In spite of his precarious position however, the Demon Slayer would manage to avoid the worst of the blow without having to let go of his sword as the demon intended him to. He'd instead lean back at the last moment just enough so that only the tip of his sharpened bone would graze the unscarred side of his forehead, in the process cutting the bandages around his forehead Tamayo had just recently replaced and sending them flying like ribbons through the air.

Groaning at his failure to strike at the boy, Rokuro tried to drag him closer by his blade and deliver a powerful kick to his gut, only for Tanjiro to suddenly pull his blade back out of his grasp while backing away just out of his kick's range, leaving a quickly healing cut along the demon's palm. Rather than chasing him, the Lower Moon would instead op to extend both his arms towards him palm first, almost as if aiming in his direction with the blades emerging from his hands. And sure enough, not a moment later, he'd watch the muscles on one of his arms bloat for a moment with pressure before releasing it by sending the blade flying right out of his hands like an arrow released from a bow's string.

Though not having expected that, Tanjiro was still sharp enough to see the attack coming and counter it appropriately by raising his blade to prevent the projectile from hitting him, instead being deflected and sent spinning over his shoulder. He did however expect the second projectile, quickly remembering Rokuro had taken aim at him with both of his arms at once and, sure enough, just after deflecting the first projectile, in would come the second. He thought so, anyway, but turns out it came with an unexpected twist either. He just stood there confusedly for a moment at the lack of any Forescent appearing for him before the attack hit, having grown very quickly used to it by then despite having learned the skill somewhat recently. But it never came, as the attack flew by in his shoulder and missed entirely, the intent behind the move not being made clear until it moved right past him and Tanjiro noticed the presence his own bandages, the bone having been shot through them in order to entangle itself with the cloth and, not hit him, but rather have the bandages cover his line of sight for a moment and allowing Rokuro to quickly close distance and attack again, his now bladeless palm shooting out to grab him by the neck. This time though, his Forescent did work and, though the bandages blinded him briefly, he regardless managed to sidestep the demon's grab and gripped his hilt tighter as he prepared to counterattack. Except rather than disappearing as it usually did, the smell of his Forescent changed from a choking move to a decapitating one instead, and Tanjiro could only lean back as a scythe-like blade of bone newly sprouted from the outside of Rokuro's forearm narrowly flew by over his lowered head.

The Lower Moon Demon came to a quick stop once his newly created forearm blade was dodged, switching his momentum to spin around and swing at the boy with the same kind of blade sprouting from his other arm, but Tanjiro had by then backed away to evade the blow. Rokuro growled, not letting up as he chased the Demon Slayer vigorously, another two short blades sprouting from his palms paired with the scythe-like ones in his arms to make his pattern of attack even more unpredictable, pushing back the swordsman as he desperately dodged and blocked his foe's aggressive slashes, his Forescent working overtime in making sure he was aware of every single blow coming and could react to it in time. However, as much as he was keeping up for time being, he knew just sticking to the defensive wasn't going to work out, and that he would have to find a way to switch the momentum of the fight if he wished to overcome his foe. Worse yet, he soon noticed that, with being forced back constantly, he was quickly approaching an incoming wall behind him, one that if he was pressed against, he would have nowhere to run off to when Rokuro attacked.

In an attempt to escape such a fate, he'd suddenly move backwards quickly before lunging to the left in an attempt to circle the Lower Moon, but Rokuro moved to the side with him, outstretching a palm and forcing him to move back to the other side when one of his palm blades was fired as a projectile in his trajectory, that moment being enough for the demon to close in again and aim a forward strike with the blade on his forearm, one that Tanjiro managed to block at the cost of being sent skidding even closed to the wall by the force of the blow. Before he could even properly recover from that, Rokuro had knelt down and slammed his bladeless palm down in the ground, "Demon Blood Art: Rising Bone Graveyard." He announced with a grin, more spikes of bone rising from the ground, but not with the intent to impale him. Rather, they sprouted in a clear line to either side of him, creating a tall corridor of bones to trap him with the wall on one end and his opponent on another. While he did that though, the demon would extend his other hand at him and fire the blade in it as a projectile to keep Tanjiro busy while the wall around him rose, one he ducked under fairly easily despite the limited space, but kept him distracted enough for Rokuro to close distance again, swinging fiercely with his scythe-like blades and further forcing the Demon Slayer to block while being pushed down the corridor and, consequently, closer and closer to the wall.

The narrow corridor made it even harder for Tanjiro to wield his longer katana without having its swings be stopped the demon's bones, which in turn wasn't much of a problem for his opponent and his shorter forearm blades. That said, he'd keep his blocking to a minimum, instead relying mostly on dodging to evade his swings, but that by itself was not enough, and when he was eventually required to raise his blade at an undodgeable swing, the force in it again pushed him further back. This time, however, he used the momentum to jump back, which allowed him to open some space from his foe on one end, but in the other had him stop with his back just barely touching the wall, with bones rising at either side to prevent an easy escape and a grinning Rokuro rushing him with both his blades posed to strike. Despite the dire situation and little time to react, Tanjiro kept his calm, breathing in while quietly wondering what was the best way to escape this debacle. What advantage did he have over his demonic foe at the moment? Given some more time, he could've figured something better, but in the rather tight situation he was in, the only thing immediately obvious was that Rokuro was certain he had him cornered. The demon expected him to try something stupid and lash out as your usual prey with no other options might've in this situation, but Tanjiro was no prey.

He waited until the last possible moment, when the Lower Moon Demon was upon him with both his blades closing in for different directions aiming to tear him apart, to spin around holding his katana over his shoulder with a two-handed grip to intercept the two blades while raising a foot to press against the wall he was facing. Though the attack came with more force than he could really block properly, especially from his position, he also didn't need to. What he did instead was use that momentum to run up the side of the wall before breaking their lock while flipping himself right over Rokuro. The demon was surprised, but still attempted to stop himself and slash at Tanjiro while he was still mid-jump, but this time his shorter blades worked against him as he failed to reach the Demon Slayer, who in turn spun midair and lashed out with his own longer katana at Rokuro, not managing to get into range to aim a proper decapitating blow, but nonetheless achieving his first real hit in the battle as the tip of his blade grazed the demon's throat and opened a wide gash along the front of his neck.

Tanjiro landed before the demon, facing him with his blade already raised readily. Their situation having been reversed in a matter of moments, with the Demon Slayer now in the position of a predator against the preyed Lower Moon cornered in between the walls of his own creation. Gripping his hilt tightly, the swordsman breathed in as the edge of his katana burst into flames, its tip pointed directly at the demon's wounded neck, "Breath of the Sun, Seventh Dance: Piercing Sunlight!" He declared, swathes of fire exploding in all directions from the katana as it was thrust at Rokuro's still-healing neck. The surprised demon reacted by crossing his forearm blades and using them to intercept the attack, deflecting it upwards while leaning back to avoid the tip reaching his head. Tanjiro was not done though and used his momentum to jump in, landing with a foot on the demon's chest while pushing down his thrust blade to begin overwhelming the Lower Moon's block and force his blackened sword towards his foe's neck. He'd only get halfway there before his Forescent flared again and he had to jump away as several white spikes of bone burst from the demon's chest where his foot had been a moment earlier. Despite his attack failing, the swordsman still used the jump to vault himself over the wall of bones created by Rokuro, landing safely outside the deadly corridor that had nearly cost him the battle just seconds earlier.

Tanjiro landed before the demon, facing him with his blade already raised in a readied stance, their situation having been reversed in a matter of moments with the Demon Slayer now in the position of a predator against the preyed Lower Moon cornered in between the walls of his own creation. Gripping his hilt tightly, the swordsman breathed in as the edge of his katana bursting into flames, its tip pointed directly at the demon's wounded neck, "Breath of the Sun, Seventh Dance: Piercing Sunlight!" He declared, swathes of fire exploding in all directions from the katana as it was thrust at Rokuro's still-healing neck. The surprised demon reacted by crossing his forearm blades and using them to intercept the attack, deflecting it upwards while leaning back to avoid the tip reaching his head. Tanjiro was not done however, and used his momentum to jump in, landing with a foot on the demon's chest while pushing down his thrust blade to begin overwhelming the Lower Moon's block and push his blackened sword towards his foe's neck. He'd only get halfway there before his Forescent flared again and he had to jump away as a series pf white spikes burst from the demon's chest where his foot had been a moment away. Despite his attack failing, the swordsman still used the jump to vault himself over the wall of bones created by Rokuro, landing safely outside the deadly corridor that had nearly cost him the battle just moments earlier.

There was a moment of silence as an unmoving Tanjiro kept his blade raised in preparation for what might come next before he heard a cracking sound and noticed several cracks spreading throughout the spiked walls of bone, followed by them all suddenly disintegrating simultaneously, creating a white cloud of dust from which Rokuro emerged, his dark cloak blowing in the wind like a large shadow beside him, staring down the Demon Slayer intently with his mismatched golden eyes, the blades on his forearms having now disappeared entirely. "Seems like you've got some bite to your bark after all…" He commented, "I think I can understand That Man's interest on you a bit better now…"

"Flattered," Tanjiro replied simply without lowering his blade in the slightest. "I just wish I'd been able to bite off that neck of yours before you'd realized as much."

"Well, shame, because you won't be getting that chance once again." Rokuro told him as he raised his arm, opening his hand into a palm as a single bone blade sprouted from it just as before, followed quickly by several others as the bone sprouted further out, growing in length until it had extended some six feet, taking the form resembling that of a flower with several spiked bones extending forward at its very tip, "Demon Blood Art: Pale White Lotus." He announced as the bone disconnected from his palm, allowing him to twirl it with his fingers and take a hold of the weapon with his other hand, pointing its numerous blades at Tanjiro, "Even back in my human days, I always favored the spear above any weapon. I think it would only be right to put my best foot forward against another formidable warrior…"

Tanjiro's lips twisted into a nervous grin, seeing the change in the demon's stance and immediately noticing a different air about him. Seemed like he was really getting serious now…and he couldn't afford himself to meet such a foe with anything less than an equal intensity. Not when the man before him held in his body the secrets needed to take the first step in regaining his sister's humanity. Losing with so much at risk was simply not an option, "Alright then…" He murmured, breathing in as he twirled his blade, flames dancing around its edge before he pointed it straight at Rokuro, "Bring it."

**A/N: ****So we end another chapter, admittedly one I could've finished a bit sooner if I didn't laze off on writing it in the last few days, and for that, I apologize. But well, it is here. And it's an important one too, meeting Tamayo and Yushiro is a big deal for Tanjiro's character, as it reaffirms a set of beliefs that were previously challenged by meeting his sister and somewhat regains his faith on the possibility of fixing the demon problem in a non-fatal way. Bet you didn't all expect me to throw Lower Moon One into the mix though. Kind of a massive difficulty curve, I'll admit, going from Lower Moon One, then to Five and Four, then immediately to one, but it's all part of the plan of the guys. You've followed me for a quarter of a hundred chapters now, so have some faith.**

**Anyway, despite me kind of procrastinating the final few thousand words, this chapter flowed fairly easily, with none of the usual blocks that annoy me so coming to delay it further. Its working name was initially 'Boy in the Big City', which I discarded cause it sounded silly and the Big City really wasn't much of a focus point aside from the start. Then I decided to focus on Tamayo and renamed it 'The Kind Demon', but that still didn't sit fully well with me, which was why I changed it slightly and settled for 'The Kind Doctor', which is just vague enough a title so that the new readers glancing through the chapter names won't figure the series of events too easily, which is exactly how I like my chapter titles despite having so much trouble with them normally. **

**Writing Yushiro in all his simpness for Tamayo was pretty fun, and the exchange Tamayo and Tanjiro later share was something I also felt was particularly informative. Maybe not for a reader who knows the canonical facts of this story, but the characters do get to learn some interesting stuff. I alluded vaguely to Yoriichi, as he is an important part of the chapter despite not even being directly mentioned here, being the reason Tanjiro was even able to talk to Tamayo here in the first place. I don't remember if Canon ever really justified her approaching him when by all means she should be trying to avoid the Demon Slayer Corps. Initially, I reckoned it was because of Nezuko, but I don't think she was even there when they met. Well, either way, I'm too lazy to go back and check now. Maybe she also saw some of Yoriichi in Tanjiro there despite him not looking like the man nearly as much as he does here, so that's a headcanon.**

**Either way, its too early for Tanjiro to learn anything too signficant about that, so we'll use the old 'demon attacks and interrupts the conversation' trick. I'll admit I initially wanted to end this chapter at the point Rokuro and Tanjiro meet, right before they begin to fight, but that would've made for way too short a chapter, not to mention making next chapter way too bloated as it would have to fit the entirety of that battle. Speaking of Rokuro, some of you might've noticed that the name I gave his Demon Blood Art, the Dead Bone Pulse, is ripped straight outta the Kaguya Clan's Bloodline in Naruto. But...well, this is fanfiction, I don't earn no money from this, so no one can sue me over it. Plus its, in my opinion, the coolest sounding technique name in Naruto, even in Japanese. Like, the Shikotsumyaku, just say that aloud if you can and you'll see how badass it sounds. **

**Anyway, that's where Rokuro's bone ability was inspired by, and even then it's not that original, but its still a hella cool ability in my opinion, and will be pretty fun writting when I start getting a bit more creative with it. A small tidbit about this too, but there's a character in Black Clover who I believe has yet to appear in the anime with a similar ability as well. I drew no inspiration from that. In fact, I came up the concept of Rokuro's ability the day before the manga chapter he was revealed to have Bone Magic came out. I swear, it was really weird. Still, I wanna make the way he wields that ability distinct from either that character or Kimimaro, and we're yet to really dive into it as much as I want to, so keep an eye out for that. Oh, also, I understand it kinda seems like I forgot Tamayo and Yushiro existed around the end of the chapter to focus on Rokuro instead, but trust me when I say they'll have a role to play on this fight as well come next chapter. Stay tuned and see.**

**So, thanks for DownwardDive, whom I recently gave a recommendation of an amazing fan comic of Kimetsu no Yaiba that I believe is currently untranslated. Its name is _What If I Know Too Many Reasons I Can Be Strong? _and it has a somewhat similar premise to this fic, except times a hundred. Tanjiro essentially turns into Guts from Berserk and proceeds to violently crush every obstacle in his path with zero dificulty and ridiculous bloodlust. Totally recommend it. **

**That all said, guess its time for the reviews, huh?**

_clone59yahoo com: I wanted it noted that you played me so hard with the scene when Kanao ask Aoi what is the word for longing for someone you miss and want to be near. Your answer was Shinobu. I died so hard of laughter when I thought Aoi would assume it was Tanjirou, but instead assume it was Shinobu. Great chapter once again!  
_

**Well, yeah, that was kinda the point of that one scene. I am glad you enjoyed it though.**

_Warhammerx12: Nice chapter, I wonder if you will follow the anime for Tanjiro opponent ( arrow demon and ball demon at tamayo home) cause they clearly already outmached by him at this point._  
_And i love your nezuko version. I hope we will see more of her pov._

**You might've forgot, but the demons you mentioned, Susamaru and Yahaba, were already defeated by Tanjiro back in the first time him and Kanao met, Chapter Six, I believe. You're right though that current Tanjiro wouldn't have that much of an issue dispatching them, but Rokuro here is a different matter altogether.**

_Wolvmbm:Great update and nice bonding moments for Aoi in this chapter as she got Zenitsu to open up more and see himself developing into a capable fighter despite his wounds. Great moment between Aoi and Kanao too showcases a sisterhood bond between them in a sense. _

_Kanao slowly developing feelings for Tanjiro and it makes one wonder what would happen if she tries to help Tanjiro save Nezuko ?_

_Overall nice update. Keep up your fantastic story._

**Nice to see you appreciated the character moments of the last chapter. It probably wasn't the most interesting or emotionally packed one to read through, but those things really are needed when you wanna build character development. Kanao and Aoi is also something I've wanted to touch upon for a while now since technically they should've known each other for a very long time before the series even starts. **

**Regarding Kanao, I do admittedly wanna have her meet her future sister-in law face to face sooner or later. Chihime probably won't be all that receptive though.**

_AnikaSukino 5d: New chapter! great!_  
_I'm really ashamed of what you say, I say it is the first time that I comment the same story this long on different platforms. It's that you write super cool. How I wish I had that narrative like you have._  
_Now with the chapter!_

_-Zenitsu and his depression. I was quite surprised that it was Inosuke who motivated him and not Tanjiro (Although he did it ... little but he did it), that dictates the maturing process in Hashibara ... dammit! The talk with Uzui did work. It's good that he started training regardless of the limitation that he now suffers. I like the interactions with Aoi though, it's rare to see this shipp crack when I ship Inosuke x Aoi. Maybe this time I will make an exception._

_-I already said about Inosuke but I insist, see him mature ... wow_

_-With Tanjiro, pos ... Kagaya's conversation was interesting. Although Kagaya is a careful and cautious man, sending Kamado to watch is a low but required blow. Asakusa is coming as well as Tamayo and Yushiro, I have to see what are the factors that differentiate your story with the anime / manga canon, I look forward to reading it!_

_That would be it, I was going to send my review yesterday but I had to finish publishing the final chapter of Curse Blood (My Kimetsu no Yaiba fanfic)_  
_See you! I hope you're well and safe from all this madness of the pandemic!_

**Ah...another double review. And a big one too. What a treat. I'm happy you like the story enough to go through the trouble. **

**Yep. HAving Inosuke be the one who brings Zenitsu out of it was kind of a 'two birds with one stone' kinda deal, because it triggered Zenitsu's change while showcasing Inosuke's, kind of like the later scene between Aoi and Zenitsu was meant to showcase Zenitsu's. Regarding the pairing...well, its more of a plot choice than anything. Zenitsu's character calls for romance more than Inosuke's does, and since Nezuko isn't around, things kind of turn out differently. I do hope you grow to at least tolerate that pairing though.**

**But anyway, we've now arrived at Asakusa, and though the similarities are obviously there, there is also plenty different from the canonical version of the arc. That said, I do hope I get to hear your thoughts on it as well.**

_gogo bananas: ZENITSU BADASSERY LEGGO_

**Leggo indeed. Big plans for Zenitsu in the coming chapters.**

_YoungTaoist: Love the update and seeing how the characters had grown from the dangerous encounter on the mountain. I am curious to see whether Tanjiro heads of on his own or goes with the Five Senses to the city, as well as if he will meet another Moon over there. As always, looking forward to your next update. Stay healthy and have a fantastic a day!_

**I'm sorry if it kind of disappoints you, but this is a Tanjiro-only mission. It didn't seem dangerous enough to justify dragging someone alongside him, not to mention being a secret mission of sorts as well. He did meet another Moon as you predicted, so you can be happy about that. **

_HamburgerLife: Thanks to the moment you gave them, I can see Zenitsu and Aoi happening. It was very well-written! Me and my high standards are satisfied. Well done_

_Low-key left me hanging when Aoi thought Kanao only missed Shinobu and not in love with Tanjiro ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ_

_Tbh, a marinated headless boar doesn't sound too bad if you ask me \\_(ツ)_/_

**I'm glad to have met your standards. And yeah, I do wanna take advantage of the point of her character development we're in to drag Kanao's cluelessness a bit further. Also, you're right, marinated boar sounds delicious. **

_gvillamia: FINALY! I felt like I've been waiting for age! This story is so damned Good!_

**I hope this one felt faster.**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: So you decided to go with meeting Tamayo after all... Well I am kind of confused. In canon even when you are a demon and you kill somebody u still end in hell... I never really understood that cuz you are a completly different person. I am just wondering if Nezuko will be able to life with herself when she will turn back to being a human(after all people she killed). But it's a really interesing development, I am hoping for more_

**Glad to see you reviewing again, Cieszesi. And yeah, it is a bit confusing, and it isn't something I tackled last chapter, but was adressed by Tanjiro's POV about it in this one. Ultimately, there is a lot of uncertainty about turning Nezuko back into a human, but hwen the only possible alternative seen by Tanjiro is outright killing her, the choice becomes a lot easier. What happens if she does turn back into a human though, that's way down the line.**

**That's that then. If you liked the chapter, be kind enough to leave a review, that always puts a smile on my face. If not, also leave a review, and I'll try to improve. I'm fairly close to becoming the most reviewed Kimetsu fic in FF dot net, so each review is another step forward. I'll see you all soon when we come back next time for the exciting conclusion of the short Asakusa arc. Sky signing out .**


	26. Blade and Bone

The waning crescent moon shone high above the starless skies of Asakusa, a lonesome white arc barely visible through the night lights of the big city, and underneath it stood two warriors facing one another, the imposingly tall Rokuro with his cloak blowing in the breeze and a long spear of bone in his hands facing the smaller but equally determined Tanjiro, holding high his flaming blade. Both warriors stood across from one another on the garden surrounding the partially wrecked house of one doctor Tamayo, both waiting for the other to move. The silence was tense as a cold and bitter wind ruffled the grass beneath their feet, further building the anxiety as both foes silently watched out for the other's initiative, trying to read onto each other's intents in a bid to swiftly counter their opponent's attacks the moment their tense standoff was broken. Although it seemed like an eternity before either would take action, sooner or later Tanjiro's foot took a quick but heedful step forward and, seeing that, Rokuro moved.

In a moment, the demon was upon him, skillfully thrusting his white spear at him in a way which the boy didn't require his Forescent to know that he couldn't afford to let. And so, he breathed in, the fire on his blade growing fiercer, "_Breath of the Sun, Third Dance: Scorching Mirror!_" Tanjiro thought, deflecting the first stab with his flaming sword as well as the several high-speed thrusts like it that followed, skillfully pushing aside every time the flower-like spear was stabbed at him with flawless timing and accuracy while backing away from the charging Rokuro, keeping up his defensive technique until the right moment presented itself. That moment came in the form of a thrust aimed just ever so slightly lower than all the others, causing his foot to suddenly stop dead on the ground, putting a halt to his retreat as he brought down his flaming blade to force the spear thrust downwards, allowing its many-bladed spearhead to sink right into the ground. The boy then took that moment to jump over it with a foot placed on the shaft of the weapon before swinging his flaming blade at the demon's neck. He'd only barely be able to aim his strike before Rokuro read through his intentions and yanked his spear off the ground, twirling it and forcing the unbalanced Tanjiro to jump off its length, where he was met while still midair by its side striking hard against his raised blade when the Lower Moon turned around, swinging the weapon and sending the swordsman flying back from the blow.

Even when in midair with the flames on his blades fading from taking the attack straight on, Tanjiro was given no time to recompose himself, having another bone blade fired upon him by the demon just a moment after his swing hit and forcing the boy into using his momentum to backflip over the projectile the moment his feet touched the ground. Landing properly again though, he already had to work with his footing to narrowly sidestep the following two bone blades fired at him by Rokuro, the demon advancing in a determined stride towards the boy. Narrowing his eyes, Tanjiro decided holding down his defense forever and waiting for his chance would get him nowhere and thus decided to take initiative once again, his feet sinking lightly into on the ground before he shot off towards his tall opponent. Rokuro, on his end, simply scoffed, allowing the shaft of his weapon to slide down his grip as he raised an arm to the side before swinging the spear in an upwards arc to meet the Slayer's dash. Tanjiro found this curious, as the timing was clearly off, meaning he'd reach his foe just after he was done with the swing rather than being intercepted by it, but remained cautious regardless. True enough, the moment the tip of the spear dug into the ground, his Forescent would alert him of what came next, allowing him to duck and slide underneath a series of bone spikes that broke through the ground and rose diagonally, the kind of which he would've run right into and ended up skewered were he less cautious. Regardless, he was able to use the same spikes to stop his sliding momentum, placing a foot against the base of one of them, only to notice the familiar cracks spreading out unanimously through the bone constructs. Widening his eyes, the swordsman quickly rolled to the side a moment before the bone spikes broke apart in a white cloud of dust and a spear of bone was thrust into the ground where he was lying not a moment ago.

Precariously, Tanjiro had to rise quickly and immediately lean back as the demon's spear burst through the dust, sailing upwards and flying by inches from hitting his face. Rokuro took the chance to try and strike him with the blunt edge of the spear as he twirled it at his side, and though this was blocked by a rising Tanjiro, he managed to redirect his weapon pointing the bladed edge at the boy, stabbing him twice over and forcing him to deflect those blows as well with his katana, clearly pressured by the situation. The Lower Moon responded as aggressively as ever, swinging his spear sideways at Tanjiro and forcing the boy to block it in order to leap over the blow, followed by ducking another one as the demon spun the weapon over his head and tried to skewer him with its tip again in the process. The Slayer rolled around his foe though, rising with his sword held in a reverse grip, slashing at the demon's thigh and causing Rokuro to collapse with a grunt. In a moment's notice, Tanjiro would then switch his grip and aim another slash towards his neck, but wasn't quick enough as the demon's other hand shot out to over his shoulder, a blade of bone already emerging from his palm as to intercept the decapitating slash and deflect it upwards, all the while switching the grip on his spear to stab at the boy behind him. In spite of that, Tanjiro had used the momentum of his katana being pushed upwards to leap back spinning midair out of his range and landing in the right position to slash again at Rokuro's face while he was still turning around, managing to get the very tip of his blade to graze over the demon's left eye, partially blinding him for the moment.

The Lower Moon would attempt to angrily stab at the Slayer with his spear in an attempt to keep him at bay, but Tanjiro only skillfully evaded the thrusts and, by the third stab, he moved swiftly over to the demon's left and out of his still limited line of sight. Rokuro spun around quickly, trying to follow his target while swinging his weapon to try and hit him with, but despite turning around fully he would see no sign of the boy nor hit him in any measure, even with his newly healed eye. He wouldn't have long to enjoy his newly regained sense of depth perception though when his vision would blacken entirely, Tanjiro having jumped over him when he was out of sight and grabbed the edge of own cloak, throwing it over the demon's head to leave him blind for a single moment, enough for him to land safely and spin around fully, taking his blade with him as its edge burst in flames, "Breath of the Sun, Second Dance: Crimson Horizon!" He announced, slashing with his blade in a full arc around him and aiming it at the demon's neck.

That though would not be the case as, instead of striking his foe, he would instead slash through nothing but fabric as he tore apart Rokuro's discarded cloak, his Breath Technique missing entirely. Barely did he have time to process this though when his Forescent warned him of an incoming attack, a brief vision of himself with a sharp white spike stuck straight through his neck flashing in his mind for a moment. He quickly moved to the side but was still grazed on the side of his neck by a bone blade piercing through the cloak in its pathway towards him. Even with the attack mostly evaded, Tanjiro grit his teeth in pain at the bleeding gash on his neck, and found himself unable to dodge when the demon followed up by swinging his spear at him. He was though able to diminish the damage of that attack by stepping forward so to avoid getting caught the spiked bones at the spear's end and instead being hit in the arm by its pole, all the while moving to the alongside its momentum, so even when he was knocked to the side, he still recovered and returned to his feet fairly easily with little more than a sore arm.

"I thought so..." Rokuro murmured, staring the boy down with his golden eyes as he stepped over the remnants of his torn and discarded cloak, "Boy...you are able to smell out your opponent's intentions right before they attack, aren't you?"

Tanjiro blinked in surprise at that, not having expected to be called out on his Forescent by an opponent, not having thought there were that many outward indicators to the technique, "...correct." He affirmed without lowering his sword in the slightest, "How did you find out?"

"Please...you think you're the only one with a good nose?" The Lower Moon rhetorically asked, tapping lightly onto his own nose as the young Demon Slayer widened his eyes in surprise, "How did you think I was able to track you down? Still...I myself didn't find out about Scent Prediction until I was a demon for a while. I'm surprised someone as young as yourself has that figured out..."

"_...wow, that's a much better name than 'Forescent'..._" Was the first thing that crossed Tanjiro's mind upon hearing that, but that new piece of information did clarify some things for him. It made sense how Rokuro had been able to evade his attack so easily even while blinded if he saw it coming just like he'd have done. Of course, he was surprised someone else would have the same odd ability as himself, but given the other Senses all in a way shared a similar trait, it wasn't all that shocking that someone else existed with a heightened sense of smell like his own. He never considered that person would be a demon though... "_Either way, if he can see my attacks coming just like I can see his own, that means this is a contest of who can predict each other's moves_better." The swordsman realized as he breathed in, switching the grip on his katana, "_He already has an inane advantage as a demon since it's far harder to deal him a fatal blow...I really can't afford to be sloppy here!_" With that in mind, Tanjiro's blade burst with flames along its edge once again as he used his trademark technique, "Breath of the Sun, First Dance: Waltz..." He murmured to himself and, without another moment of hesitation, he moved in at his opponent.

Recognizing the boy's killing intent, Rokuro immediately fell to one knee and placed a hand on the ground, creating more spikes of bone bursting forth to intercept the boy and keep him at a distance, but Tanjiro wasn't hampered twice by the same trick, and instead sped up to jump over the rising white spikes. His opponent wasted no time once realizing the boy was in a defenseless position, intercepting him with an upwards thrust of his spear, but the attack was easily deflected downwards by the midair Slayer, using the chance to dive and land behind Rokuro while he was still vulnerable

With his chance at hand, Tanjiro immediately rose already swinging for the demon to intercept his flaming blows with the shaft of his spear. As he was pushed back, he was forced to dismiss the spikes behind him as not to hamper his movements, immediately moving even further back to take cover in the cloud of bone dust created by his own constructs. He underestimated the Slayer's tenacity though as Tanjiro refused to give him ground, pressing his attack further in chase of Rokuro, striking hard against his guard in search of an opening. Even through his attempts to regain control over the fight, Rokuro found himself failing to gain any ground as each and every chance to attack was deflected by the swordsman's burning blade before immediately being counterattacked. During one such occasion, Tanjiro would manage to finally get through his impenetrable guard and land a slash across the demon's gut, except the moment he did so, he would realize his mistake, his sword arm suddenly being stopped where it was as a pale hand took a tight hold of his arm. Looking up, he saw Rokuro's murderous glare down towards him as his other hand held onto his spear with a reverse grip, bringing it down right at his back. Of course, he'd let a mostly harmless attack slip by his guard, just so he could get in a position to land a fatal blow. That was stupid, falling for that, but the Demon Slayer knew that only meant he'd have to compensate for it and survive somehow.

In a fraction of a second, he would let go of his katana as the flames along its edge faded slightly before twisting his arm and pulling back to drag his trapped arm out of Rokuro's grip, all the while his other hand shot out to claim his falling blade, breathing in to reignite the fire covering it to its full power and swinging it to narrowly intercept the descending spear, pushing himself aside and forcing Rokuro's weapon down into the ground. He attempted to spin around quickly then and slash while the demon's spear was still stuck, but as he did so he would find no sign of his foe, the spear instead being pulled off the ground and forcing his gaze to follow it as he caught sight of the Lower Moon Demon positioned directly above him, having used the spear to vault himself over Tanjiro, and was currently redirecting that very same weapon before thrusting it full force at the Demon Slayer beneath him.

The tip of the many-pronged spear impacted the ground roughly, breaking it apart with the immense strength that it was thrust with. It did not, however, hit its aimed target as the weapon had instead gone straight through the swordsman as if he was nothing but a mirage, which left Rokuro confused for a moment before he smelled something behind him and turned in time to see Tanjiro having somehow leaped directly over him just before he'd attacked, "Breath of the Sun, Eighth Dance: Parhellion Rainbow!" He called out, raising his katana as the flames created by his earlier use of Waltz flared before being brought down upon the Lower Moon demon. Rokuro, though not having expected this, still replied in kind, raising his left arm as bone emerged from the front of his forearm, growing quickly to create a thick, misshapen shield of white bone attached directly to his arm and using that to intercept Tanjiro's attack. The flaming katana impacted the shield of bone with great power behind it but was ultimately unable to power through it, pushing Rokuro back down to the ground and allowing him to tear his spear from the earth, swinging it with its extended reach and forcing the Slayer to block the midair attack, being sent flying some distance back.

Despite managing to land on his feet without much issue Tanjiro had his concentration strained by pulling off another Breath of the Sun Technique while keeping up Waltz, and when he was pushed aside by the demon's newly created shield, the flames on his blade ended up dissipating. Worse yet, he wasn't given much time to try anything else as the demon rushed him once again intent on regaining control of the battle, his now fully formed shield raised, having taken an almost square-like shape with jagged bones sprouting from each end. His spear, on the other hand, was being thrust with the same ferocity as usual, forcing Tanjiro to narrowly deflect it with notable difficulty before spinning around and trying to counterattack. Of course, the shield was there to stop him, and as his weapon was pushed aside by it, it gave Rokuro the chance to advance, thrusting his spear again and again at his foe in an attempt to pierce past the boy's guard. With him now doing so one-handed and with little momentum, the blows didn't have as much impact as before, allowing the swordsman to defend himself more effectively, but his slight loss in power was more than compensated by the extra defense the shield gave him, practically closing up his guard entirely for as long as he kept it raised. Every attempt he would therefore make to regain his offensive amidst dealing with his foe's spear was immediately denied by the shield, keeping him at bay constantly and allowing Rokuro to push on with his own offensive.

The swordsman attempted to use his dodging to move around his foe's guard, but the demon was fully aware of Tanjiro's intentions, and had his gaze follow him constantly, bringing the shield up no matter where he went, all the while continuing to pressure the boy with his spear, using wide swings with little care for how open that left him open now that he had the shield. Bidding for time, Tanjiro evaded his swings before quickly closing in, raising his sword as if to strike his foe head-on, which would certainly mean he would get blocked again, but this time he threw a feint and hit the floor quickly to instead swing for the demon's leg. Even then, he didn't account for his own opponent's Forescent making such a feint somewhat null, and sure enough, the pole of his spear was there to deflect his blade down right before it hit. Though he attempted to back away in his failed attack, the swordsman found his blade trapped underneath Rokuro's foot just as the demon swung a straight punch at the boy with his shielded arm, which in this case would mean either getting caught head on by the sharp spikes at the edge of the shield or abandoning his blade to dodge it. Instead though, Tanjiro opted to cut his corners and quickly lean back so that instead of being hit head-on with the jagged end, he would instead receive the Lower Moon's fist right to his chin. Which was by no means a pleasant sensation, but it beat taking a spike to the throat, or fighting this monster unarmed for that matter.

The punch would knock him a good distance back, sending the boy rolling violently across the ground. Even as he came to a stop, his sense of balance still didn't feel quite right, but he had managed throughout it all to maintain a tight grip of his katana, having yanked it from underneath the demon's foot when he was punched back. Raising the blade, he powered through his dazed state and rose, trembling somewhat. Seeing that must've been the reason Rokuro was taking his time in closing in, striding along calmly but intently towards the rising boy. The demon thought him weak, a wounded prey ready for the finish. He wasn't completely wrong. Tanjiro still felt the cut on his neck hurting, and that punch was no joke either, not to mention he hadn't been sparing with his use of Breathing Techniques. And yet, as long as he could still move, he would dedicate the entirety of himself towards cutting off that demon's neck, but he'd never get to the neck if he couldn't get past that shield first. "_I still have some fight left in me...can't let this bastard have his way_now..." Tanjiro thought, breathing in through gritted teeth, "WALTZ!" He declared through gritted teeth, his blade igniting once again, though the effect of pushing his own techniques was starting to strain him as his muscles burned up too. Powering through it, he'd raise his blade and dash in at the demon once again.

On the other hand, Rokuro observed this through narrowed eyes as he came to a stop to observe the boy and his flaming blade, seemingly realizing his wounded prey was not as cornered as it first seemed, and thus raised his shield to intercept the Slayer's dash. He was undaunted by this though and attacked with his fiery sword even as it struck the demon's shield, leaving gashes and marks across it, but still doing no significant damage to it. Rokuro bid for time though, backing up and taking on the boy's attacks until he saw his optimal chance, using the shield to bash his blade aside and only then using his spear to strike at the Demon Slayer, aiming in at his opened guard. Expecting this though, Tanjiro quickly veered to the side to evade the attack and took the opportunity then to close in from his opponent's unshielded side while slashing at him, creating a fairly deep gash on the demon's midsection as he went by. Rokuro though was unbothered by the quickly healing damage as he spun around, trying to intercept the Slayer with the jagged underside of his shield again, forcing him to quickly duck underneath it before having to raise his sword once again to intercept a one-handed thrust of Rokuro's spear. This time, he was able to stop it fully, and as it was thrust again, he deflected the spear upwards while using that momentum to slide right past the Lower Moon and once again get behind him.

As Tanjiro lunged in to attack again, but Rokuro would simply glance over his shoulder with a scowl before half a dozen spikes burst out of his back, forcing the Demon Slayer to abandon his attack in as to avoid getting skewered. At the same time, the demon would ram his shield tip first into the ground, something Tanjiro had by now seen him do enough times to know what it meant. Sure enough, more spikes burst from the ground in an attempt to keep him away from his foe, but he'd read onto them with his Forescent and, using the knowledge of the direction they were growing towards, was able to hop atop the bone spikes and use them as stepping stones to leap over the demon himself. Rokuro didn't expect this, but tried to spin around intercept the Slayer with his spear mid-jump, only to have it deflected downwards, its momentum sending Tanjiro back down to the floor to land right behind him, immediately falling to the floor as the demon attempted to once again catch him with his shield, as he turned around. Face to face with his foe, the swordsman rose then, just in time to deflect to the side another thrust of his spear before, in one flawless motion, bringing the blade over around his head in order to bring it down, not aiming for Rokuro's neck, but rather the shield arm he'd left wide open after swinging at him, slashing right at the point where two bones made contact at his elbow in and finally lopping off the Lower Moon's arm off and his bone shield with it.

Having managed to get his most meaningful blow yet, Tanjiro had just shifted the tides of battle, and as he looked up with a grin towards Rokuro's surprised visage, it was clear that they both knew of this. Not allowing any time for the demon to regenerate his arm, the swordsman pressed on, swinging his flaming blade with renewed vigor and forcing his opponent to one-handedly block his intense blows with his spear. It was clear this move had only bought the boy a few seconds before the arm could be regrown fully, but he knew this would be his best chance to end it and was giving it his all in pressing back the Lower Moon precisely because of that. Which was how, at the very first slip he'd spot in his enemy's guard, he was able to push aside his spear before delivering a wide gash across his midsection with a slash of his sword. Rokuro groaned at the wound but held his ground, trying to force the boy back with a desperate thrust of his spear, which was, in turn, deflected quite easily, but as he attempted to pull back his spear to attack again, he'd feel an unusual resistance and only then realize that Tanjiro had grabbed onto the weapon's shaft and moved in towards him, using the momentum of his pull to jump in close and knee the demon directly in his chin, knocking him off his feet. Shifting his flaming katana into a reverse grip, the swordsman brought down the blade with the demon's neck clear in his aim. Rokuro, however, wasn't going down just yet and, in a desperate bid, used his falling momentum to throw a full-force kick at the tip of his bone spear while tightly gripping its pole, knocking it upwards with great power and catching his foe with its shaft from below as his own weapon was inches from the demon's neck, thus sending Tanjiro flying high up into the air.

Regarding Tanjiro though, he wasn't really sure what had happened there. One second he was about to strike his foe down, the next he was fifty feet up in the air. The attack itself hadn't done much damage, having inadvertently been intercepted by his blade as he was about to land his slash and thus mostly negated, but it had still put him in a rather uncomfortable position, spiraling across the air with little say over where he was going. As he stopped rising and suddenly began falling though, he would manage to take advantage of his short-lived lack of momentum to take some control over the situation and finally stop spinning, allowing him to begin focusing on how he would break his fall. That wouldn't be his main focus for long though as, just a moment later, he saw from the corner of his eye something move past him, and as his gaze followed it over his shoulder, he realized Rokuro had jumped after him, and had his spear raised in a newly reacquired two-handed grip, thrusting it down to skewer Tanjiro from behind, and forcing him to spin around and use the last of the fading flames in his katana to deflect the blow as best he could, in the process having his fall trajectory changed. He was barely able to process that fact before he hit a hard-surface back first, grunting in pain. It took him a second of looking around and noticing the tiles around him to realize that he had landed on the rooftop of the mansion, by then the flames on his blade having faded fully.

Nonetheless, he would take this as a moment to breathe, knowing that if he was pushed off course to one side then logically his opponent had been pushed away too, so he thought he'd have a brief reprieve from the demon's attacks. And yet, he'd notice something coming in the distance towards him, closing in quickly, something...white. Widening his eyes, Tanjiro rolled to the side right before the lotus spear crashed right through the roof, creating a massive hole in its side that he barely escaped falling through. Knowing he had no time to waste, he rose quickly, just in time to see Rokuro landing roughly on the edge of the rooftop from what he presumed to be a massive leap from the impact it had on the nearby roofing. Immediately, the demon glared up at him as he slammed an open palm on the ground spikes of bone suddenly bursting through the roof towards the Demon Slayer, forcing him to back up quickly, jumping over to the other side of the roof. Even then, the spikes continued following him even as he slid down all the way to the opposite edge of the rooftop, narrowly being caught by them before he took a dive off the edge of the roof straight towards the ground.

For a moment, he thought he was finally safe from the Lower Moon's restless offense, but once again, he was wrong, and he didn't know that this time until his Forescent offered a vision of himself having a massive hole punch across his chest. Not a second later did the wall on the upper floor of the house burst apart from inside, Rokuro thrusting his recovered spear through it to intercept the diving Tanjiro. Though the boy raised his blade, he was still not fast enough, and would feel one of its spikes piercing into his shoulder as he struggled with his sword to hold it back from going further in. Even then, he was sent flying down towards the ground from the impact and found himself violently sprawling across the mansion's surrounding garden as he hit the ground.

Upon coming to a stop, Tanjiro would groan and attempt to rise, only for his arm to give out from the pain on his wounded left shoulder, causing him to collapse face-first on the ground again. The wound in question wasn't too deep, but it was damaging nonetheless, making any slight movement on his arm hurt like hell, not to mention spewing even more of his blood and causing the boy to begin feeling somewhat lightheaded. This was far from a good situation, especially against a practically fresh opponent. True, for a moment there, he really thought he had this fight down, but then he was sent flying into the air and by the time he'd returned to the ground, the tables had once again turned. Regardless, at this point, his only options were to stand up and fight or stay down and die. So, with noticeable struggle, he used his good arm to push himself back up, glaring up at his foe as he did so.

Rokuro, meanwhile, had landed safely some distance away from him, and seeing the state that this time the boy wouldn't be able to power through his injuries too easily, allowed himself a moment to gloat as he calmly strode towards the downed Slayer. "You've put up quite a fight, young swordsman, but it is time to accept your fate. You've come close, but you can no longer defeat me in your current state."

"That's...not up for you...to decide..." Tanjiro responded through gritted teeth, pushing himself up with his good arm as sweat poured down his forehead, fighting through the pain and tire to stand up once again, sweat was now pouring down his forehead and his breath was heavy, but he nonetheless held up his sword as best as he could.

Coming to a stop, Rokuro narrowed his eyes, "Fighting to the bitter end...I admire your tenacity," He admitted earnestly as he raised an arm, muscles bulging as a blade of bone sprouted from his palm, "but that won't change the outcome of this." The demon fired the blade, forcing the Slayer to precariously deflect it with a single-handed swing of his katana, as well as the similar projectile that followed before he stumbled forward and used that momentum to dash towards the Lower Moon with his katana readied, to which Rokuro simply raised the spear he was still holding in his other hand.

Tanjiro swung but had his blade easily deflected by the demon, pushed to the side before he twirled the spear above his head and thrust it upon the boy. With great difficulty and some stable footing, the Slayer would be able to just ever so narrowly hold back the blow despite his one-armed grip, only for Rokuro to then smirk and suddenly twist the spear in his grip, having caught the katana in between two of its spikes, resulting in the sword being forced out of its owner's grip and sent flying off to the side. Immediately upon seeing this Tanjiro jumped back, but would be followed closely by the demon, his smirk having now grown into a grin as he relentlessly swung his spear at the boy. Try as he might escape his range and move to recover his blade, the Demon Slayer would be unable to shake him off for more than a moment before the Lower Moon closed in again, and his worsening state from the still bleeding shoulder didn't help this in the slightest. It was taking his full focus just to survive amidst his foe's onslaught. Regardless, he knew he didn't stand a chance without his sword, so Tanjiro was forced to make a risky play, breathing in deeply despite the burning in his lungs as he narrowly sidestepped a spear thrust and, as Rokuro swung for him again, the spear would go right through as the swordsman used Parhellion Rainbow once again to move out of his view while leaving a behind an afterimage, just narrowly managing to jump over his foe's shoulder out of his line of sight, hitting the ground and immediately dashing to the best of his abilities to his disarmed katana, diving towards it as he began closing in. Except, just as his hand reached out for its hilt mid-dive, his Forescent flared again, and this time he was unable to do anything to dodge the blow as a bone blade stuck him square in the back, right underneath his shoulder blade, piercing through his chest with enough force to push him away from his own katana and causing him to miss it entirely as he hit the ground roughly.

"I knew you would try that." Rokuro told him bluntly, lowering the extended arm he had just used to fire a bone blade with, the very same that had impaled the boy and left him writhing in pain on the ground, "But you should know better than to use that same trick twice against the same opponent, it really gets old rather quickly." As he talked though, Tanjiro would begin crawling his way through the ground back towards his blade, but upon seeing that, the demon would just narrow his eyes and calmly walk towards his downed foe, casually twirling his spear and stabbing it down on the ground to rid his hands off it. He would make it just as the crawling boy desperately reached out with his hand to try and retrieve his weapon, but wouldn't quite get there as Rokuro's foot came stomping down on his arm, causing the injured Demon Slayer to grunt out in pain. "It's almost admirable, how you're willing to fight to your last breath." The Lower Moon commended his foe as he pressed down harder on his arm and causing him to squirm harder, "But you should also recognize when it's over."

Removing his foot from the boy's arm, he gave Tanjiro a brief moment of reprieve before he reached out and grabbed him by the hair, dragging him back up to eye level, his feet hanging just shy of reaching the ground. Despite trying his best to struggle against the demon's grip though, it was for naught. His eyesight seemed to be getting blurrier by the second as all the blood loss started finally catching up to him, making his movements heavy and sluggish. For the first time, the concept of defeat seemed real and palpable, feeling powerless before the Lower Moon. There were so many things he needed to do...would he really die there, without ever seeing his friends again? Without saving his sister or avenging his family? Had all that effort to get here really been for naught? He expected some sort of answer to all his questions but would receive none as all he saw was the cold, uncaring gaze of the demon holding him, raising his other arm as a curved blade sprouted from it, one obviously created with the sole intention of ending his life. That didn't scare him however, death never did, but it left him with a sudden feeling of frustration at the lack of closure in the face of it.

Those would be his last thoughts though before Tanjiro's nose was suddenly assaulted by an overwhelmingly sweet scent, and he barely had a moment to wonder what its source was as he suddenly felt his consciousness slipping away.

* * *

Rokuro narrowed his eyes, watching the boy's eyes roll over as his consciousness left him, his body going limp. The Demon Slayer had made a valiant effort and had even gotten closer to claiming his head than any of the others to fight him before, but in the end, he was just human. It was never a fair fight to begin with. He couldn't deny the respect he'd developed for the young swordsman as a fellow warrior, being fully aware that if he was still human he would've never stood a chance against him. But that did not change what he had to do. He raised the boy further off the ground, leaving his neck clear in his aim as he raised his other arm in preparation to claim his head as a trophy of his victory, when he suddenly stopped, smelling something out of the norm. It was a very sweet smell, almost to the point of being nauseating, like numerous perfumes mixed together in one big smelly batch.

Generally, demons were not required to breathe to survive, though most continued doing so mainly out of a habit built during every living moment of their previous human lives. Rokuro had long trained himself to only breathe when in the midst of battle as to make use of his own advanced sense of smell and all advantages it brought him, and as he was yet to finish his opponent he was very much in a battle mindset. Which was how, despite being caught off guard by the odd smell, his Scent Prediction was still sharp enough to feel when something tried to attack him from behind, causing him to spin around with the Slayer still in his grip and slash at it with his newly created blade.

And yet, his body didn't move as fast as he expected, and his slash met nothing but air as he turned around to see nothing but an empty garden behind him. There was a moment of confusion as the smell of an attack faded to be replaced by the odd perfume scent again, even stronger than before. He tried to take a step, but unexpectedly stumbled forward slightly, causing the Lower Moon to stare down at his own feet in surprise, "_Something...something is wrong..._"

He then felt it again, the smell of an incoming attack, and he'd move to dodge what he predicted to be a straightforward blow despite seeing nothing before him, but once again his mind and body were unsynchronized, and he suddenly felt something piercing straight through his chest. Rokuro stumbled back as he let go of the Slayer, staring down shocked as he was impaled by an invisible blade, one that soon came to view, revealing the same katana he'd disarmed his foe of moments ago, except with a piece of paper drenched in his blood wrapped around the sword's hilt.

Barely was Rokuro able to process that when he was struck across the face by an invisible force, in the process being forced to let go of the wounded Slayer. He was then struck twice over in the gut and across his head, two blows that he should've easily been able to intercept with his Sense Perception, even coming from an invisible foe, but it seemed like by the moment his moments were feeling more sluggish, the smell of an attack being further and further delayed to the point where it was near useless, almost entirely overwhelmed by the still persistent perfume-like smell. Regardless, he tried to swing his arm blade at where the last blow had come from and would manage to graze something with its very edge, his invisible opponent suddenly becoming visible, a young-looking demon with green hair and a slashed piece of paper strapped across his forehead, the lower half of his face underneath his eyes covered by a thick piece of cloth. With the young demon veering to the side to dodge the lower Moon's blade, he used that momentum to spin around, grabbing onto the katana on Rokuro's chest by the hilt while kicking him in the face with enough force to send the Lower Moon stumbling, losing balance in his dazed state and falling to the floor.

With him downed and dazed, the demon would run off, quickly grabbing the wounded Demon Slayer off the ground and rushing off with him in his arms. Rising, Rokuro was then able to see what exactly he was running towards, with another female demon staring at them anxiously from the walls facing the front of the house from across the garden, the very same ones he'd come in through. She had her sleeves rolled up to the elbow, five gashes created by her claws in her arms causing her blood to pool drip to the ground. Quickly, Rokuro began to understand. His current state was somehow due to the female demon's Demon Blood Art, the perfume-like smell is what was debilitating him, and why the male demon had covered his nose and mouth with a cloth before approaching him. Furthermore, he had been able to make both himself and the katana invisible using those odd pieces of papers, that probably being his own Blood Art. Either way, they were taking his prize away from him, and that was something the Lower Moon could not allow.

Raising his arm, Rokuro aimed at the running demon with the Slayer in his arms, producing a spike of bone from his palm before firing it at his back, but he found himself having more trouble to aim than usual, and the shot ended up missing entirely. Grunting, he quickly tried to repeat the process, but once again to no avail. As the demon and Slayer duo were reaching the walls, Rokuro focused, creating one more bone spike which he knew would be his last shot at this. Grabbing onto his forearm to steady his aim, he closed a single eye and locked on his target, the muscles on his arm bulging as he prepared to fire it before finally releasing. It flew across the air, covering a great distance in a matter of moments and piercing the green-haired demon's shoulder just as he reached the female demon.

She seemed worried at him for a moment, but the first demon just wordlessly urged her. The woman hesitantly nodded, and rushed through the wall, before the green-haired demon turned to stare at him with one last glare. Rokuro would see then that his shot had hit the demon, but missed the Slayer entirely, just going through the former's shoulder just about a foot above the point where he should've aimed to get his real target in the head. But he didn't get another chance as, a moment later, the demon rushed in through the wall as well.

Groaning, the Lower Moon Demon slowly rose to his feet again, the smell of perfume quickly becoming weaker and his momentary daze fading as it did so. In little time, he would be back to his full capabilities, and from then on, he would easily be able to give chase and catch up to the two demons. Or at least he believed so, but with the smell of perfume fading, another one would take its place, one that made his nose sting and that he found hard to place at first, but that had him staring off at the half-crumbled mansion where it was coming from. It took another moment before Rokuro managed to decipher what the smell was, an odd mixture of burning gunpowder...and wisteria. The demon narrowed his eyes, sighing heavily at what was about to come next before the entirety of the house was suddenly enveloped in a massive explosion.

* * *

The ground shook slightly from the blast even from a distance, and Tamayo felt it as she fled through the streets of Asakusa with a briefcase in hand, accompanied by Yushiro and a still bleeding Tanjiro in his arms. She was somewhat remorseful, having to abandon the house she had lived for so long like that, but she felt as if there was no other choice. Demons like them were not made for combat, their abilities serving as support more than anything. Therefore they knew from the start that they stood no chance against Lower Moon One like Tanjiro did. She watched as the boy bravely fought against such a high-level opponent, his unwillingness to go down and the way he brandished that flaming sword of his only serving to cement what Tamayo had already guessed about him since first learning of his appearance by Yushiro.

He'd gotten close, very close, to claiming victory and lopping off his foe's head, but ultimately it was too much for him, and they had been forced to intervene. She didn't regret not aiding him in his struggle though, knowing that if they had tried to help him, they would've lost the element of surprise against Rokuro. Sure, that might have allowed the boy to claim victory, but she wasn't too confident about that, especially after overhearing about the demon's sense of smell, probably how he found the house in the first place. Tanjiro himself had been able to see through Yushiro's invisibility with his smell from what she'd been told, so she didn't like his chances in approaching a foe with similar abilities. Her own Blood Demon Art was also risky, since most of its useful techniques were also quite harmful to humans, and thus would do Tanjiro more harm than good in that situation. It was only when he was forced against a corner with no feasible chance of victory then that she chose to take drastic measures and act, using her Blood Bewitchment to mess with Rokuro's senses, leaving him dazed and drunk, a similar albeit toned down reaction from what a demon like him would have when facing against a rare-blooded human. Luckily, it was particularly effective on the Lower Moon, which allowed Yushiro to use his Blindfold and get up close without being smelled, attacking the demon and retrieving Tanjiro before they made their escape, though not before having set alight a trail of gunpowder leading down to the basement, where her special-mixture of gunpowder, wisteria essence and more than a few nichirin caltrops for good measure were located, making sure that their attacker wouldn't heal off from the explosion too quickly.

As they ran, she turned to Yushiro, carrying Tanjiro over his shoulder with one arm wrapped around the boy's slumped body while the other pulled out the spike of bone that had pierced his shoulder with a grunt before ripping the piece of cloth covering his face and tossing it aside, "How is he reacting to the serum?" Tamayo inquired then, referring to the medicine she'd injected in him as soon as they'd left the premises of her mansion in order to counteract the ailing effects her own Demon Blood Art had on humans.

Yushiro groaned, dragging Tanjiro's body from over his shoulder and properly holding the unconscious boy in his arms to get a properlook at him, "I think it's working...he seems to be breathing fine. His pulse is pretty normal too." He noted before turning to Tamayo, "But...Lady Tamayo...why go to such extent for a simple Demon Slayer?" Her assistant asked with a frown, "We could've gotten caught back there, why are you so sure this kid is worth risking ourselves for?"

Tamayo pursed her lips, hearing that. It was pretty clear from the start that Yushiro was not a big fan of Tanjiro's. Maybe it was jealousy, maybe distrust, probably both. He'd urged her strongly for them to leave the boy behind as he fought Rokuro, but she'd stated adamantly that she wasn't leaving without him, forcing Yushiro into helping her rescue the young Slayer with a promise to explain it all later. She fully understood his feelings, but he hadn't seen it...what she'd seen in him. "Yushiro...I know it might be hard to believe this, but please trust me when I say...this boy is no average Demon Slayer." She told him while staring at Tanjiro's unconscious form, earning her assistant's full attention, "If I'm really right about this...you might be holding in your arms the key to finally putting an end to this war." Yushiro widened his eyes, turning his gaze down to the Demon Slayer in his arm as well, seeming to suddenly reconsider his previous thoughts regarding the boy. After all, as ridiculous a statement as that might've seen, he knew Tamayo wouldn't speak lightly of such a matter. "Now...we need to find a place where we can treat him immediately." The doctor stated, "The longer we take, the more blood he's losing."

Yushiro nodded, and would silently and dutifully carry on with the boy in his arms. Minutes later and they had managed to hole in an abandoned building they'd found in the edge of Asakusa where they could safely treat the boy. Kneeling, Tamayo clicked open her briefcase and started gathering whatever medical equipment she'd need while Yushiro prepared Tanjiro for immediate surgery, setting him down atop a white sheet pulling open his kimono shit. She first applied through an injection a medicine to coagulate his bleeding and prevent him from losing too much blood with the next step, namely removing the spike from his chest. Tamayo was surprised to find out once she did so that, despite having taken the attack head on, Tanjiro had somehow managed to move his vital organs out of the way so the projectile would slip in between his lung and liver without significantly damaging either. She let out a small relieved smile at that, realizing now that his wounds, though not modest in the slightest, were not the fatal kind.

She turned to Yushiro then, who only nodded, before looking back over to the downed Tanjiro, putting on a pair of hygienized gloves, "Alright then," Tamayo declared, picking up a scalpel, "Let's begin." And as the doctor and her assistant began working on fixing up their patient, she could not help but let stay thoughts make their way back into her head, "_This boy...he might not be quite there yet, but beyond just his appearance...his fighting style, his conduct, his earnest desire to help...maybe this is our second chance. To right our wrongs, triumph where we failed, maybe he can finally bring an end to the tyranny of Muzan Kibutsuji...we can only hope...isn't that right, Yoriichi?"_

* * *

By the time Tanjiro woke up, his surroundings would be very different. Rather than being in Tamayo's mansion down in Asakusa, he found himself resting in a wisteria teahouse just outside Tokyo. Wisteria Teahouses were spread all around Japan, belonging to a family indebted to the Ubuyashiki family who was known to take in and provide rest and food for any wandering Demon Slayers. As such, it was a popular spot for Slayers to gather in before being sent off on missions. Tanjiro himself had never been to one before but had heard from Genya about them once during their training sessions. According to the old man who ran the place, he was found unconscious just by the teahouse's entrance the night before, his wounds treated but with no sign of whoever had done so.

It wasn't too hard after that to put the pieces together. Tamayo and Yushiro had rescued him from the Lower Moon's grasp somehow, having treated his wounds and dropped him off on the teahouse so he could rest. They had done a damn good job too, as evidenced when he decided to unbandage his bare chest in front of a mirror and got a glimpse of the stitches on his chest and back, exactly where the blade of bone had impaled him. It hurt somewhat, but for someone with an impalement wound on his chest, he felt pretty fine otherwise.

That didn't make him feel too much better though. After all, the very reason he'd come to Asakusa in the first place was to meet with Tamayo and figure out a way he could return Nezuko's humanity, but Rokuro had attacked in the middle of their conversation, preventing him from ever being able to properly finish talking to her. That said, all he had now was the information that to revert the process of demonification, he needed to collect the blood of powerful demons, or rather Demon Moons more specifically. As evidenced by his loss, he'd gone off to a bad start on that task. Regardless, he had managed to survive his encounter with Lower Moon One, which meant he had a chance to fight another day. It was as good a start as any he could've asked for.

To a lesser degree, something else he was thankful for was the fact that despite having been disarmed by Rokuro near the end of their fight, he was found with his katana back in his sheathe. Again, he reckoned he owed Tamayo and Yushiro for that. As he drew the blade to inspect any possible damage to it though, a folded piece of paper slipped out from his scabbard and fell to the floor. He blinked in surprise, reaching down and grabbing it, he unfolded the paper, revealing itself as a handwritten letter addressed to him. He looked up for a moment, but there was no one in the small room he'd been staying in other than himself, so he looked back down at the letter and began reading.

_Tanjiro,_

_I apologize for not being able to tell you all of this in person, but with the sudden attack on our home, Yushiro and Imust immediately go back into hiding lest we risk ourselves being discovered. We will, however, continue to aid you in your quest to heal your sister's demonification. Though I fear we might not be able to meet again face to face so soon, we should still be able to communicate through one of my familiars. Chachamaru is on standby for once you finish reading this letter. With him, you will find specially designed syringes made to collect a demon's blood and preserve it. Should you be able to use them against a strong demon, he will also be the one to bring those samples back to me._

_I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors,_

_Tamayo._

"_Chachamaru...?_" Tanjiro couldn't help but wonder, but before he could even think too much about it, his nose would catch onto a new smell in the room. Someone else was there. Except it wasn't a human, nor a demon, in fact it was a-

"Meow." He heard right next to him before, sure enough, a small cat with black, white and brown spots as well as big amber eyes came into view beside him, wearing a brown pouch strapped to its back and a talisman just like those Yushiro used strapped to his chest. Which at least explained how a cat managed to sneak up on him, it'd simply been invisible a moment ago.

"Oh...so you're Chachamaru." Tanjiro realized with a small smile, scratching the cat underneath its chin and causing it to sit down, closing its eyes and purring next to him. The boy chuckled, reaching out then into the pouch and drawing out from it three knife-looking objects, except as he drew one from its letter sheathe he would notice its hilt was hollow and lined with glass, a thin hole stretching out along its blade all the way to its tip in a similar fashion to a syringe's needle, "_Huh...that's not what I expected, but if she says it works, I'm not doubting it._" He said, putting away the knife-like syringes, "Well, thanks, little guy." He told the cat, patting it lightly. Chachamaru then stood up and meowed again, disappearing out of view entirely, though its smell would linger for a bit longer before it left the room through the open window.

With the cat then gone, Tanjiro turned his attention to the three syringes he'd been given. It seemed like his trip hadn't been such a waste after all, and that should leave him in a good mood, but now holding this new item and being given a reminder of its purpose made him think back to what his objective with them truly was. Those were meant to collect samples from Demon Moons, the higher the better. As his confrontation with Lower Moon One had shown, however, he was still lacking in plenty. He'd been lucky to escape alive, true, but this wasn't something he could allow a repeat of. After all, as he'd been told, slaying a Lower Moon should be an easy task for a Pillar, while slaying an Upper Moon was a nigh-impossible task even with several Pillars. If he couldn't best Rokuro, how could he ever hope to even stand up to what lay beyond him...?

His line of thought was interrupted however when a knock came from his door, causing him to quickly pocket away the syringes he'd just been given, "Come in!"

The door slid open, with the old man who ran the teahouse walking in somewhat hesitantly, "Uh...Tanjiro, right? There is someone here to see you..."

The boy raised an eyebrow at that new piece of information, "Who...?"

He didn't even finish his question as the old man was pushed aside, a small boy looking somewhat younger than himself walking in, dressed in an oversized Demon Slayer uniform with long dark hair that nearly reached his waist. Immediately upon entering the room, the young Demon Slayer looked over at Tanjiro with his bored green eyes, inquiring, "So you're Tanjiro Kamado?"

Tanjiro, not really knowing what to make of the odd boy besides him looking utterly disinterested with the world around him, answered slowly, "Uh...yeah, that's me." He confirmed, "Why?"

Upon having his confirmation, the Demon Slayer would turn back towards the door, "Grab your stuff and come with me, we're leaving." Without another word, he would walk back through the door the same way he came, leaving a puzzled Tanjiro to stare off at the door for a moment wondering if he was really serious. Seeing as he didn't come back, he could only presume that he was.

"Hey, wait up!" Tanjiro called out, picking up his stuff as he chased the boy out of his room, even as he calmly strode past the gates of the wisteria teahouse, completely ignoring his fellow Slayer, "Who are you?! And where are you taking me?!" He further inquired as he reached the boy, who continued ignoring him as he walked forward, now really beginning to frustrate Tanjiro, "Answer me!" He demanded, reaching out to grab the boy by his shoulder.

Barely did his fingers graze the uniform's cloth though, and the boy's hand shot out, taking a surprisingly tight hold of his wrist. One that, despite trying to break with his impressive strength, Tanjiro was fully unable to do so, "Don't touch me." The boy told him in the same placid tone as always, only glancing at him from the corner of his eye with a completely neutral face before his elbow was suddenly rammed into Tanjiro's gut with an unexpected amount of power behind it, so fast his Forescent was barely any aid in helping him dodge such a blow.

The red-haired boy immediately collapsed onto all fours, coughing roughly after taking such an unexpected blow head-on, the emotionless Slayer standing over him with the same blank look, still glancing down from the corner of his eye at the downed swordsman, "_Who...just who is this kid...?_" Tanjiro asked himself, having trouble even breathing properly.

"If you promise to stop talking and just follow, then I'll give you your stupid answers." The boy assured him then, to which the wheezing Tanjiro only nodded, "My name is Muichirou Tokito, the Mist Pillar, and I was sent here to get you by Lord Ubuyashiki so you can attend the Pillar Meeting." He explained shortly, before continuing to walk, "Now come."

Tanjiro, however, couldn't help but stare at his back as he walked away in shock, "_That kid...HE'S a Pillar...?!_" He thought in disbelief, not having believed someone even younger than himself could achieve such a high-ranking position, He knew though that was no empty statement, the one blow he'd taken from Muichirou served to prove as much. Trying not to think too much about it, Tanjiro rose, still staring at the walking boy's back. As he followed him, however, for the first time in a very long time, Tanjiro once again felt painfully aware of just how weak he really was.

**A/N: Zoo-we mama!**

**So I've got some explaining to do. This chapter really took a while, didn't it? I could just say my computer broke and was being fixed, which is true, but that's only half the reason. This chapter was kinda hard to write for some reason, so it took me some writting and rewritting to really get this down, but now we're here, and we're back. ****Primarily, I wish to give a shoutout to the user by the penname Demon Lord Galm, who wrote a Kimetsu no Yaiba fanfic almost as long as this one in the time it took me to post this chapter. ****If that's not dedication to your craft, I don't know what is. ****His is the whole 'Tanjiro turns into a demon' thing, but I gotta admit he does have an interesting take on it, and some damn ambitious plans too. Also, he's a pretty cool guy, as I got to know after talking to him some. Secondarily I want to apologize for being an idiot, who somehow posted chapter 25 on top of chapter 2 of this story by mistake and probably tunred off a lot of new readers. Oopsie. Mistakes happen.**

**Anyway, getting into the chapter itself, this here is dedicated to the battle between Tanjiro and Rokuro, one i had a lot of trouble in writing and structuring, but one whose results I ultimately think are satisfactory. No one really predicted Tanjiro losing this fight, but he kinda did. Mind you, it was a close call, but he still lost. If Rokuro was replaced with Mukago or Wakuraba this could've turned out very differently, but unfortunately it was Rokuro, and so Tanjiro ended up losing, very narrowly surviving even as Tamayo and Yushiro managed to save him at the last moment.**

**I don't really have much to say about this scene though, other than me throwing out hints about things that everyone who read the series by now knows, but that I still keep hidden for the sake of this story. What really matters though ain't really that part, but the very end of the chapter. With the end of the short Asakusa arc, we move into what I call a transition arc of sorts, starting with the long awaited Pillar Reunion. And so, I thought, why not take the chance and have Tanjiro meet another Pillar, which was how the chapter ends with Muichirou of all people being introduced. Who, by the way, really cements to Tanjiro the whole "there's always someone better" thing in this story. Because Tanjiro might be strong, but Muichirou is a Pillar. But we'll see how these two interact, as well as the introduction of more Pillars by next chapter.**

**Usual thanks to DownwardDive. Please don't ghost me again.**

**Oh, and before we move on, I wanna celebrate a thing or two. Namely, right now I am one follower away from reaching 500 of you, which yay, but more importantly, at the time this is posted, I am six reviews away from having the most reviewed story in the Kimetsu no Yaiba. So, even if Galm beats me in word numbers some time soon with his freaky writting pace, I get to have another throne for myself still.**

**That said, onto the reviews.**

_clone59yahoo com: Nice chapter!_

**Thanks, I try.**

_gogo bananas:aha yes author this is the good shit_

**Glad to deliver.**

_Ger0nim0:This chapter is:_

_"24" by Not Waving_

_Play?_

**Sure, I'll play.**

**Wait, I thought you commented on the other site.**

_Chimera608_: _Alright I can't wait for fight with Tanjirou and lower moon 1_

**Well, I do hope you liked it.**

_Echonic:I s he actually gonna take a lower moon solo again?! i'm hyped as fuck._

**That he did, but I couldn't give him the W on this one.**

_HamburgerLife : I'm surprised on how fast you udated this chapter. Or perhaps you wrote this in advance?_

_Either way, I'm impressed on this chapter! Your writing skills got a lot better and the way you plan the fights is brilliant_

_Yushiro do be Simp_

**Nah, that one just came by fast. And in compensation this one came out reaaaaaaaally slow.**

**Thanks, I pride myself on the fights in particular, but I do know there's some stuff I really have to improve there too.**

**That he be.**

_Abdullah AZ : your story is AMAZING ...can you belive that I read the first 20 chapters in less than three days ! .. it's so addictive I even left all my other activities just to read it .. but now I am a bit sad because I'll have to wait for next chapters .. so don't make me wait .. do it as fast as you can (kidding .. take your time XD._

_I was wondering if tanjiro will create his own style like nezuko (chihime) did .. or will he learn another breathing style .. or maybe he'll stay just like he is ?!_

_i kinda found chihime is a little OP .. don't you think ?! .. like she has the breath of the moon , blood moon and her demon blood art .. other than the features of a demon body ._

_And I am really excited to know how will you play the next meeting between tanjiro and nezukotanjiro and gyuu (not sure if that's how his name is written)_

_anyway ... I have said alot .. so keep going and never let the idea of stopping this fiction cross your mind .. your fans will kill you XD_

**I can't believe you read all that in three days either. That's more than most Harry Potters, and the later ones are _long_. Sorry to keep you waiting though, that's admittedly on me. Took my time a bit too much.**

**Anyway, I don't plan on having Tanjiro learn a new style, and I'll be open to that much. Kinda pointless when he has the undoubtebly best style. Even Canon Tanjiro eventually stopped using Breath of the Water altogether when he mastered the Dance of the Fire God. The only way he would use a new breath is if he managed to create something better than Yoriichi, which...yeah, Tanjiro's good, but he's not all that. What he will do is learn to use his own Breath better,and we'll have a very long upcoming arc with the focus on that, I'll tell you that much.**

**Yeah, she's overpowered as all hell. Up until now we haven't seen her fighting 100% serious with all she has to offer, and that's because it would heavily skew things in her favor if that was the case. That's kind of the point though, she's a big mountain to conquer, which means Tanjiro is forced to rise even higher in order to meet her head on, and that's how you motivate a protagonist.**

**Well...don't hold your breath. It will be a while before Tanjiro and Nezuko come face to face again, and there's plenty of stuff I want to cover before we get to that. **

**As long as you guys keep reviewing I'll be very hard-pressed to stop writing. Granted, it's slow sometimes, hella slow, but I won't stop.**

_The Empty Hollow: Yes. It really was an awesome chapter. Indeed, having Lower Moon One attack them was unexpected, but it was a great twist. Jumping from Lower Moon Four to Lower Moon One is more realistic than having Tanjirou climb the ranks in order. Using Kimimaro's ability was a great thing too; using familiar abilities that almost everyone knows makes imagining the fight scenes much easier, not to mention it probably makes writing them easier too, so it's a win-win situation._

_I wonder how the fight will proceed? I wonder what will Tamayo do when she sees the Breath of the Sun? _

_It's painful to wait, but this chapter was released some time ago, and I've only been able to read it now, so thankfully the wait shouldn't be too long._

**"The wait shouldn't be so long," He says, before waiting over a month for the next chapter. Oof, guilty as charged. **

**Well, I wouldn't say its straight up Kimimaro's ability cause he's far from the only guy who fights with his bones, but its still more similar to his fighting style than any of the others. The main reason is still just because the name sounds really cool, but if Rokuro and Kimimaro become automatically associated because of that with my readers, I wouldn't really mind it either. Kimimaro's hella cool, he can even turn into a dinosaur man.**

**Anyway, you got your answers, Tanjiro lost and Tamayo had her own vague thoughts on that. Hope you enjoyed.**

_Cieszesi Niezmiernie: Nice chapter. _

_So this time it's lower one huh... I don't know if Tanjiro can handle him on his own but if he kills him with a help from Tamayo and Youshiro, it will still look for a demon slaying corps that he took it on his own. It's not like he can tell them that 2 other demons helped him :D. Well I can't wait for more and about what will come after. Wonder if Nezuko will keep only hunting other demon moons to climb in rank or will she go after Hashira at some point too._

**Yeaaaaaah, he wasn't. Can't win every fight, through Tanjiro hasn't really won a proper one since Lower Moon Six. Giyu and Nezuko were draws though, this one is a hard L, and this chapter has him lamenting that a bit, but we'll cover more of that soon enough.**

_MumboJumbo3600: I'd simply like to say that: everything about this story is intriguing and impressive. From its similarities to its canon counterpart (the personality of the characters, the Demon Moon faction, etc.), to its differences (Tanjiro using Sun Breathing, "The Senses", his summon to be a Pillar, etc.), everything is written so concisely and beautifully to fit the overall theme. I love how all the characters we know and love from Demon Slayer, especially the Senses, can connect to this story as well. Seeing all of their character developments fully transpire in a different manner is something I'm really looking forward to reading._

_This chapter was as attention-grabbing as always, and it was nice to be introduced to Yushiro Tamayo again, with all the former's protectiveness of the latter xD. Having never seen Naruto, Rokuro's Dead Bone Pulse was such a treat to experience for the first time, and it's thrilling to see how well it clicked with Rokuro. I'm definitely looking forward to how the rest of this battle will panel out, what you're planning on doing with the other Lower Moons, and what Tanjiro's going to do if/when he defeats Rokuro. This is by far my favorite Demon Slayer fic. Keep up the good work!_

**I'm really glad you like the story. It was always my intention from chapter one for this to be a "what if" thing, which covers a lot of the same beats and uses the same elements as Canon but in a very different way. In time there was a thing or two that I had to diverge slightly so the story can go on without being tied down by Canon too much, but I still always wanna keep this somewhat close to the original story, just adding my differenta take on it. **

**I hope you liked the chapter here, even if the fight you were looking forward to ended with a big L for Tanjiro. We'll get around that eventually though, just like we'll get to the other Lower Moons. Don't hold your breath though.**

_PotatozUni: Love this imma help you with them reviews :D_

**And I thank you for that. Just six more to go.**

**So yeah, help me out by leaving a review, and soon enough I'll be able to brag about how people like my fanfiction to the kids at school. I'm kidding, I don't even go to school anymore. Anyway, that'll be all for now, expect the next chapter to come a bit earlier than this one did. All in all, Sky signing out.**


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